Unexpected
by lovelunarchron
Summary: Kai feels bogged down by all the responsibilities he has from his family and work. His life begins to take an unexpected turn when his best friend, Thorne, invites a pretty mechanic to a party. Modern AU. Told in POV of Kai and Thorne. All main characters are in this.
1. Chapter 1

**KAI**

His car window began to fog up as he stared out at the passing buildings. The condensation from his breath wasn't mixing well with the freezing temperatures outside. A storm was apparently heading their way, and the number of salt trucks out on the road made it seem like this could be a big one. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine a blanket of snow covering the city streets. The thought didn't comfort him. No one around here knew how to drive in the snow, so traffic would likely be a nightmare tomorrow. He sighed, and continued to stare blankly at the tall buildings.

"Is everything okay, Sir?"

Kai tore his gaze from the window. Torin was looking at him curiously in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah," he mumbled, and turned back to the window. He felt rude for not wanting to engage in conversation with his father's private driver, but he was too irritated to care. His father was the one, after all, who had insisted that Torin drive him around this morning. The idea of being chauffeured around like a celebrity had always made him feel like a snob. Plus, Kai missed driving his own car. He liked the idea of being able to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. It was one of the only times that he felt free from all the weight and responsibility that lately threatened to crush him.

Unfortunately, he'd been pickpocketed last night, and they'd stolen his wallet, which of course included his driver's license. His father always thought it was beneath a person of Kai's status to drive himself, so of course he'd jumped at the opportunity to send over Torin when he'd heard that Kai wasn't able to drive himself. Torin had shown up late in the morning and offered to take him wherever he wanted to go. Kai had almost sent him away, but he'd developed a soft spot for the driver over the years and had a hard time acting ungrateful around him. Torin had always been kind to him, and he always stocked the car with Kai's favorite snacks, even though he barely rode with him anymore.

Torin began turning down a familiar road and Kai perked up a bit. He needed some cheering up after that disaster of a party last night. He desperately wanted some down time to just hang out and not worry about his life. He worried way too much. And if anyone could cheer him up now, it was his best friend, Thorne.

They'd first met at the same awkward socialite events that their parents had forced them to go to when they were younger. Thorne had also grown up in a rather affluent family, though his father had chosen the military route rather than the family business route, as Kai's father had. Despite their similar upbringings, the main difference between Kai and Thorne was that unlike Kai, Thorne didn't have any problem disappointing his parents. His dad had tried to get him to enlist in the army more than once, but he'd threatened to desert almost instantly if he were forced to join. And knowing Thorne, he'd have had no problem doing it either. His best friend wasn't exactly the prime example of someone with a straight moral compass. Quite the opposite, in fact. Kai didn't have enough fingers on his hands to count how many times he'd gotten in trouble because of Thorne.

Thorne no longer saw his parents much, as they had basically disowned him after a string of bad behavior during college. That bad behavior had resulted in him dropping out before the college could expel him. But Thorne hadn't been fazed by his parents' rage and attempt to change him; he'd simply announced that he hated their lifestyle anyway and wanted no part in it. He still tolerated Kai's lifestyle, though—since Thorne liked to say that Kai was only there as a hostage rather than a willing participant—but Kai knew that it was only out of loyalty that Thorne still came along to some of the social events that Kai dragged him to. And Kai only took Thorne along because he couldn't stand to be there by himself. Just like the party his family had thrown for him last night—which just happened to have been his birthday party.

As Kai walked up the steps, he remembered when Thorne had chosen to buy this particular apartment on the opposite side of the city. The commute made it harder for them to hang out as much these days, but Kai still spent a considerable amount of his time at Thorne's place, preferring its simplicity to his gigantic penthouse in the heart of the city. Ringing the doorbell, he waited, wondering if Thorne would even be awake at this hour. He'd gone out looking for a more exciting party after Kai's had ended, and he'd likely been out until the early hours. To his surprise, Thorne opened the door, looking wide-awake and well put together.

"Well if it isn't the birthday boy himself," said Thorne, clamping Kai on the shoulder before letting him in. "Twenty-six years old, brother! How's it feel?"

Twenty-six years old. Kai felt like he was forty. Good thing he had Thorne to remind him that he was supposed to be in his prime years.

"How are you so awake?"

Thorne shrugged. "I kind of crashed my car this morning when I was coming home. Had to take it to the shop."

Ah. If anything would get Thorne out of bed in the morning, it was the idea of his car having even the smallest scratch on it. "The Rampion's on its way out, then?"

Thorne clutched his heart. "Don't even joke about that, man! She's gonna stay with me forever."

Kai tried to suppress his smirk.

"And, as my incredible luck would have it, I met this chick at the shop. I think she's gonna take good care of my baby."

"You met a girl at the garage?" No wonder Thorne was in such a good mood. Kai had been to Thorne's preferred auto repair shop on many occasions, and he had never seen any women there before.

"Yeah, she's their newest employee, I guess. Name's Cinder, and apparently she's related to Mr. Linh somehow. Didn't catch the whole story yet."

Kai's eyes widened. "_The_ Mr. Linh, as in Garan Linh?"

Thorne nodded enthusiastically. "I know, right? Couldn't believe it myself. Maybe she traveled around with him when he used to race, and that's how she learned about fixing cars. I don't know. All the guys there said they've never seen anything like what she can do with cars. And let me tell you, Kai, she's pretty cute too."

Kai knew where this was going. "Next flavor of the month, then?"

"You know I like a girl who knows how to work on an engine." He winked, and Kai sat down on the couch, not wanting to acknowledge Thorne's crude joke. He didn't need any encouragement.

Thorne began describing the girl in detail, but Kai didn't pay a lot of attention. He knew he'd meet her eventually. Thorne was always open about the girls he dated—sometimes too open. He certainly had no problem bringing them back to his place, and since Kai spent most of free time hanging out with Thorne, often at his apartment, he'd met a lot of his "lady friends"—or so Thorne liked to call them. Because Thorne didn't do girlfriends. He just never got interested in them enough to take it any further. Which in reality was a shame, because so many women wanted to be with him. He was like a magnet. Not that Kai had trouble attracting women either; he knew he could be charming if he wanted to, and no one could deny that he was rather good looking. But Thorne? Getting women to like him was like a special talent. He just had a way with them.

Usually Thorne's stories were quite entertaining, but at the moment Kai just didn't find it particularly interesting that Thorne had found a new girl on which to focus his attention. Suddenly, Thorne's presence just made him feel even more exhausted.

"I got her number," he said, when he had finished describing his interactions with Cinder.

"Good for you," said Kai, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"I think I'm going to invite her over tonight."

"Already?"

"Nah, not like that. Just to hang out, see if there's any spark." Kai was pretty sure that if Thorne wanted there to be a spark, there would be one.

"You should come too."

Kai groaned. "I'm not going to be your third wheel."

"Aww, come on, it won't be like that. I was planning on inviting some friends. I don't want this girl thinking I'm creepy. I'll tell her I'm having a party."

"Sounds like a plan." He was sure his face gave away his sarcasm even if he tried to hide it in his tone.

Thorne frowned. "You're not going to come, are you?"

"You know I hate parties. I do enough mingling as it is."

"Kai, you only hate parties because you go to the wrong _kind_ of parties. The people are fake," he began ticking off on his fingers, "arrogant, entitled, condescending…" He crossed his arms. "Technically, business functions shouldn't even be considered parties."

Kai couldn't have agreed more.

"Let's be honest. You're too serious. You work too much. And you need to get out in real world more!"

True on all points. But still… "That's easy for you to say, since you're not inheriting a billion dollar company that you have to run."

Thorne eyed him suspiciously. "This isn't about Levana, is it?"

Kai immediately went on the defensive. "Levana! What? No, of course not."

"Kai, we've been over this. We've gotta get you away from her. _You know_ I appreciate how hott she is, but she's also the biggest bitch I've ever met."

Kai only slumped into the couch and ran his hands through his hair, wishing that he had never made the trek out to see Thorne this morning. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about. "If I agree to go to the party will you shut up about Levana?"

Thorne lit up, looking relieved. "Absolutely! But it's not really going to be a big party. Just a few friends, good food, new girl, you know."

Yeah, Kai knew. He'd been to Thorne's infamous parties many times, and he doubted that he could keep it small. But maybe Thorne was right. Maybe he just needed to get out of his head a bit.

* * *

><p>Kai felt kind of stupid for having just worn his gray hoodie and jeans today. His hoodie was slightly worn and faded, and he was pretty sure that people who were out of college and had successful jobs were supposed to look more put together. He was used to wearing pressed suits to work, and casual attire for him still consisted of slacks, dress shirts, and a tie. Thorne could have at least warned him before he came over to put on something nicer. But at least it was only a dinner party; over the past several hours, Kai had managed to bring Thorne's big plans down a notch.<p>

Kesley showed up first, toting the beer. Kai was surprised to see that Scarlet wasn't in tow. They were normally inseparable. He hoped it meant that she would be the one doing the cooking tonight, and maybe she was just out getting groceries. Her study abroad experience in France had made her quite the gourmet chef. This may have been a contributing factor to Kesley falling madly in love with her, because Kesley was _always _hungry.

He was always hungry, and he was always with Scarlet. At least, as long as Kai had known him. Thorne had met him in college first, in one of his more shady gambling schemes. Getting involved with Kesley's gang back then had been part of the chain of events that had led to Thorne's downward spiral. Though, if Kai were honest with himself, he knew that Thorne's trip down that road had started long before he'd met Kesley.

By the time Kai met Kesley, he'd been rather intimidated, particularly due to his mere physical presence and the reputation that preceded him. But, by then, he was already with Scarlet, and Scarlet tended to bring out the "gentler" side of Kesley, if you could call it that. After hanging out with them a few times, Kai was mostly only intimidated by just how much Scarlet and Kesley were obsessed with each other. Frankly, it was kind of nauseating sometimes. Everyone thanked the stars when they finally moved in together after Scarlet graduated from college.

"Where's your feisty redhead?" asked Thorne, shutting the door hastily to keep out the cold air.

"She's out picking up some food."

"Yes! I love the way your lady cooks. I'm glad it wasn't hard to convince her to do it on such short notice."

Kesley looked hungry just at the thought. "Me too."

Thorne relieved him of the beers so Kesley could take off his coat, and Kai noted that it was a light, summer jacket. Lucky genes. With a body mass like his, he probably wasn't even affected by this cold weather.

"Come on," said Thorne, handing them both a beer, "let's go chill a bit before the girls get here."

"Oh," said Kesley, "I forgot to tell you. Scarlet's bringing one of her friends."

"No problem, I think Cinder said she was going to bring one of her friends too."

"Who's Cinder again?"

Thorne popped the cap of his bottle. "The reason we're having this dinner party."

Kesley looked at Kai. "Oh yeah," he said, rolling his eyes, "this new one's got Thorne all hot and bothered."

Thorne punched him in the shoulder, and Kai couldn't keep from laughing. Maybe tonight would be good for his mood after all.


	2. Chapter 2

When the doorbell rang, Thorne jumped up to check his appearance in the mirror. He nodded confidently at his reflection and put on a specific smile that Kai had come to recognize for these types of occasions. He strode over to open the door while Kai stayed in the kitchen with Kesley, Scarlet, and Emilie, Scarlet's friend. They all craned their necks to listen as Thorne welcomed the girls in like a gentleman and took their coats, then ushered them into the kitchen to meet everyone.

"Everyone, this is Cinder," he gestured to the girl on his right. A wave of surprise washed over Kai as he took her in. Definitely not what he had been expecting. She was pretty, of course—that he had expected—but she was pretty in a way that was different from the type of girl Thorne would usually go for. She seemed wholesome, sweet, and a little rough around the edges. It suited her.

"And this is her friend, Iko." The other girl was also cute, but looked like she was trying just a little too hard to look, well, cute. Cinder, on the other hand, didn't look like she was even wearing any makeup. Maybe she had just gotten off work.

"Sorry we're late," said Cinder, "but Iko was having trouble walking in her heels."

Iko looked at Cinder like she was crazy. "Cinder, humans were not meant to walk several miles in open-toed shoes in subzero temperatures."

Thorne balked. "You mean you walked here in this weather?"

"We couldn't get a cab."

"I like walking," added Cinder, shrugging. She, on the other hand, was not wearing heels.

"Next time," said Scarlet, shaking her head, "you just call Thorne. He'll gladly pick you up. I'm Scarlet, by the way." She got up to shake their hands, and everyone followed suit.

When Kai had shaken Cinder's hand, he turned to Iko, who practically gasped when she saw him. He worried for a brief moment that he really did look so grungy in his faded hoodie and jeans that he had scared her. But she just began whispering excitedly—and not very quietly—to Cinder.

"Oh my stars! Oh my stars, Cinder do you know who this is?"

"Um...no."

She looked apologetically at Kai. "Sorry," she said through gritted teeth as she nudged Iko, "clearly my friend doesn't know it's rude to talk about someone when they're standing _right in front of you."_

Kai shook his head. "No problem. It's not the first time it's happened."

Iko squealed. "So it's really you?"

Kai was trying not to look amused. "Well, yes, I really am me, last time I checked."

She ignored him. "Cinder, this is the son of that _guy_."

Cinder was beginning to look embarrassed. "Iko, _which _guy?"

"That guy who was on the list of the Top Ten Most Influential Men in the business world! You know…" she snapped her fingers as if to help her remember, "…_Rikan Corp_! That's it!

At the word Rikan, Cinder's eyes widened. She instantly looked almost star-struck, just like Iko, and Kai couldn't help feeling disappointed. He didn't know why, but for some reason he hadn't expected Cinder to be impressed like everyone else always was. It was stupid of him, really. He didn't even know the girl.

"I…wow…" she stammered, looking down at her feet. She suddenly looked very shy. "I didn't realize…"

Thorne put his arms around the two girls and steered them away from Kai. "Yeah, Kai's our resident celebrity. He's a real heartbreaker."

Scarlet laughed. "You should have seen these two in college. Unstoppable duo, the two of them. But watch out for this one," she said, gesturing at Thorne, "he's trouble with a capital T."

Thorne responded by winking at the girls. He helped Iko sit down; when he had seated Cinder as well, he leaned himself against the table by her, and looked at her with bright eyes. "So, how's my baby?"

Cinder blushed a deep crimson. "Uh—"

"He means his car," said Scarlet. "Right, Z?" Scarlet was the only one allowed to call Kesley by his first name.

Kesley rolled his eyes but nodded. "That's the only _baby_ he'll ever have."

Thorne ignored them, though, and continued to gaze at Cinder. "_Please_ tell me she's fine."

Cinder jumped into a detailed description of everything that was being done to Thorne's car to fix it. Listening to her speak about the inner-workings of cars made Kai feel like he'd never even seen a car in his life. Thorne was the only one who was enthusiastically listening, and he nodded with joy every once in a while.

Emilie turned to him. "Can we eat? I'm sure Cinder's eager to leave work at work."

* * *

><p>Dinner went longer than expected, and Emilie decided to leave early because she lived on the opposite side of the city. Kai soon learned that both Cinder and Iko could hold their own in a conversation with Thorne. This was saying a lot, because Thorne was a master at telling funny stories. Iko had similar enthusiasm for some of Thorne's quirks, and Cinder, well…she was just kind of brilliant. The two girls made a very endearing pair, and he wondered how they had become friends, since they seemed so radically different from each other.<p>

By the time they started cleaning the dishes, Kai was convinced that Iko had a massive crush on him. This, of course, inflated his ego just a bit, but he knew it was just because of his status. He normally despised girls that only went for him for his money—okay, and his looks too—but Iko was kind of funny. That being said, she was way too enthusiastic about complimenting Kai that it got old rather quickly. He _was_ surprised that Iko wasn't flirting with Thorne, though.

* * *

><p>Thorne pulled Kai aside. "How do you think it's going?"<p>

Kai laughed. Thorne was not one to get nervous. "You're asking _me_? Don't you have your usual game plan that you stick to?"

"This one's trickier," he said. "I don't think she seems like she's that into me."

"I'm not really sure. She came, right? That's a good start."

"Yeah, but normally by this time they're, you know, doing a little of _this_—" Thorne batted his eyelashes flirtatiously, "—and a little of _this," _he said, running his finger along Kai's arm. Kai knocked his arm away, though he couldn't help laughing, because he was used to his best friend's antics.

"Are you sure don't mean _this_?" Kai put on his best swooning-girl voice. "Oh, Thorne, you're _so_ funny and _so_ good-looking, wherever have you been hiding my whole life?"

Thorne nodded solemnly. "Truth, Kai, truth."

"I'm sure it's going fine," said Kai. "And if in the end there's no spark, who cares? They both seem cool. You can just be friends."

"But she _fixes cars_."

"I know."

* * *

><p>"Torin says he can't come get me because of the icy roads. Apparently it's snowed quite a bit in the last few hours," said Kai, peering out the window with Thorne.<p>

"Hmm…that's not good," said Thorne. "Hey Kesley? Think you could give everyone a ride home? My car's still in the shop and Kai's stuck here too."

Kesley shook his head. "We just checked the weather app and it seems like we've got a winter weather warning now, not just an advisory."

"I don't think it's a good idea," said Scarlet, looking worried. "Maybe it's better if we just stay here. You wouldn't mind, would you Thorne?"

Thorne actually looked delighted. "Of course not. It would be my pleasure."

Cinder looked slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, we don't want to be an inconvenience."

This time it was Kai who protested. "No way are you walking home in this weather."

"I—"

"Cinder, it's fine, let's just stay!" interrupted Iko.

"We call the spare bedroom!" said Scarlet, pulling Kesley towards her.

Kai and Thorne exchanged glances.

"What?" asked Scarlet.

They avoided her eyes. "What?" said Kesley gruffly, taking Scarlet into his arms.

Kai cleared his throat. "While we appreciate that you two are…madly in love…let's just say that if we hear you call Kesley 'Wolf' one more time in the bedroom, we're all going to puke."

Thorne starting laughing as Scarlet turned the color of her name. Then he tilted his head back and howled.

"Shut—up—" Kesley glowered at Thorne.

"Have fun," he replied, winking at them but then turned to make a face at Kai behind Kesley's back.

"So, ladies, you want my bedroom?" he asked.

Cinder shook her head furiously. "No thank you, we don't want to impose. We can just take the couch."

Iko whined. "Cinder, how am I going to get my beauty rest?"

"Seriously, it's fine," said Thorne.

But Cinder kept insisting that they were already grateful enough to be hosted, that she didn't want to inconvenience Thorne nor Kai, so they would remain downstairs. Kai groaned inwardly as he realized that this meant he'd be sharing a bed with Thorne. Some night this was turning out to be.

* * *

><p>After tossing and turning for awhile, Kai got out of the bed and tiptoed downstairs. Once in the living room, he saw both girls were already sleeping. He didn't really know why he felt the need to check on them, but something about Cinder made him feel…something. He couldn't quite place the emotion, but it didn't matter. He hadn't felt anything at all in months.<p>

He slipped back to the linen closet and grabbed a few extra blankets to set out in case the girls got cold. Then, in another act he couldn't quite understand, he took off his hoodie and folded it neatly on the coffee table. Maybe she would want something else to wear when she woke up.

Back in bed, Kai replayed his actions only a few minutes earlier. He really hoped that his gesture was chivalrous rather than creepy.


	3. Chapter 3

After a restless night filled with more than his fair share of reoccurring worried thoughts, Kai woke up to the sun peering through the blinds. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced at his cell. 6:30 A.M. Ugh. He looked over at Thorne, who was snoring loudly, and willed himself to fall back asleep. After several minutes that dragged on like hours, he resigned himself to getting up at the same time that he always did. Like clockwork. Stupid body.

Pulling back the covers, he realized he was shivering, and remembered that he had left his hoodie downstairs with the girls. Well, at least _they_ wouldn't be cold. His instinct was to go for his daily morning run, but considering the snow fall last night, he couldn't quite muster up the enthusiasm. Besides, he didn't have the right clothes with him, and the less time he had to spend in Thorne's massive closet, the better. He opened the door hesitantly, and Thorne's wall-to-wall mirrors stared back. While Kai always thought he looked presentable and well-dressed in his clothes, Thorne always looked like he'd stepped out of the latest fashion magazine. He was way too stylish for Kai's taste, but he knew that both Thorne and the general female population would highly disagree. After rummaging through a few drawers, he managed to find a sweater that fit him decently enough.

When he got downstairs, he couldn't help pausing in the living room to see how the girls were doing. He saw a bundled figure in his hoodie, and he smiled, happy that he'd made the right choice. But as he looked closer, he realized it was actually Iko, not Cinder, who was wearing his hoodie. This made him laugh a little to himself; not at all what he'd intended, but at least it was getting put to good use. Although, on second thought, he made a mental note to make sure Iko didn't think it meant that he was into her too.

"You're up early," someone whispered behind him. He turned and saw Cinder standing behind him. She had a blanket wrapped around her and a mug in her hands. "I made some coffee, want some?" She pointed in the direction of the kitchen and Kai followed her silently.

He slid into one of the bar stools as Cinder passed him a coffee. "Thanks."

"Couldn't sleep?"

"I don't really sleep that well in general. I'm used to getting up really early for work. Ah!" he exclaimed, a thought occurring to him. He pulled out his phone and dialed his secretary. "This is Kai…yes, good morning to you too. How does it look down there? That's what I thought. If anyone asks, I'll be taking the day off. You should do the same…I understand…thank you…bye."

"Sorry," he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Duty calls. What are you doing up so early?"

She shrugged. "I'm used to getting up early too. Guess we have something in common. Although, I don't think my employer will be as understanding as yours. Or as you, if you're the employer—whatever you are," she mumbled. "I really do have to get going soon."

"It's a snow day. My secretary said traffic is moving like a snail. I'm sure they would understand."

"I don't think so."

"What about if Thorne gives them a call? Considering that you're working on his car, and he's one of their top clients, I bet he could convince them otherwise."

She shook her head, but sat down across from him anyway and took a sip from her coffee, looking thoughtful. "About that…" she trailed off.

"What?"

"Listen, I know you don't really know me at all but I was sort of wondering if you'd be able to be honest with me about something."

"I can try."

"Is Thorne really as much trouble as Scarlet said? I mean I know you probably have loyalty to your best friend, but—"

"He is my oldest friend," said Kai, smiling at her. "And yeah, I am pretty loyal to him. But something you should know about Thorne is that he doesn't try to hide who he is. He's one of those 'take it or leave it' kind of guys. He likes who he is and, frankly, he thinks women should appreciate him for who he is."

"That sounds kind of arrogant," she said, her brow furrowing.

"Well, Thorne definitely has a lot of that. He would probably just call it "confidence" instead. It depends on how you look at it. But to answer your question, I'd say that he can get himself into trouble sometimes, but he's a pretty good guy overall."

"Not a player, then? He gives off a bit of a player vibe," she said quietly, averting her gaze.

Kai laughed. She was as astute as he had thought. How could he accurately describe Thorne without making him sound bad? "Not really. He doesn't just go out with anyone, and I don't think he purposely hurts anyone either. But his personality is, well, one of a kind, I guess, and a lot of girls are attracted to that sort of thing. He has a hard time staying in long-term relationships, but I don't think he's necessarily afraid of commitment. He just…has fun. Maybe he just hasn't found the right person yet."

She looked down at her mug, and he instantly felt bad. Also like he'd botched up his explanation. "But hey—maybe that right person is you!"

She looked doubtful. "Honestly, I don't think we would work out that well."

"Hopefully not because of what I said."

"No, even when I met him yesterday, I wasn't really sure about it. I mean, honestly, I think he seems nice and I kind of enjoy joking around with him, but…he's not really my type, I think."

"Well, if I'm honest, I don't think you're really Thorne's type either. Though," he amended quickly, "Thorne does seem to be quite interested in you."

"Why don't you think I'm his type?"

"It's just that you're not what I expected. I've known Thorne for a long time, and he tends to go for a certain type of girl." _The supermodel kind,_ he added in his mind.

"Oh," she said, and her face fell a bit. "Sorry if I don't—I mean—I don't—"

"Oh!" blurted Kai, feeling stupid. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all. You're—I mean—I was just telling Thorne last night that I was glad he picked you."

"You were?"

"Yeah, I think you're a…healthy departure…from the usual type of girl he dates." Actually, Cinder was more like the type of girl Kai would date_. _He was surprised by the realization, and buried it away.

* * *

><p>Thorne came down a while later and grinned when he saw Cinder sitting with Kai. "Hey gorgeous," he said, sliding in next to her. She looked shy again and smiled.<p>

"You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again for having us."

"Of course. I'm glad to see that you're getting along with Kai. He needs more normal human interaction in his life." He swiveled to smile mischievously at Kai.

"And I've been thinking, you and Iko can come hang out with us any time. You make a great addition to our group. But as friends, I mean. I know I'm pretty irresistible, and I think you're great, but I think we'd be better off as friends."

Kai stared at him. Was this how he normally broke it off with a girl? He sounded like a moron. He half-expected Cinder to cry. But she just rolled her eyes. "You're not really _that_ irresistible, you know."

"Speak for yourself. No hard feelings, though?"

"None. I feel the same way."

Thorne looked relieved. "Well that's great, then."

"I think it would be nice to hang out again sometime," said Cinder. "I work a lot so I don't have that much time off, but I don't really know that many people around here. I guess I could use more 'normal human interaction' in my life as well." She smiled at Kai. He felt that same little emotion he had felt last night stir in him again.

"So do you need a ride home? Kai can give you a ride, I bet."

"Actually, I texted Torin that I'm going to take the subway. But you're welcome to join me."

"I can go by myself, it's not a problem."

"No, we're all gentlemen here," said Thorne. "Don't want you walking alone. It's a big, bad city, darling."

She bit her lip. "I'm actually extremely late. Lost track of time."

"Well do you want some cab money, then?" Kai offered, wondering if she was trying to avoid him.

"Oh—no, thank you, the subway's fine." She suddenly looked very worried.

"Hey, what about Iko?" asked Thorne, looking around.

"She's still sleeping. She _hates_ getting up early."

"A woman after my own heart," he joked. "Well, how about this then? Kai, you accompany Cinder, and I'll make sure Kesley and Scarlet get her home safe."

"Maybe it's not a good idea to leave Iko here by herself," said Kai.

Cinder shook her head. "Oh, believe me, Iko will be thrilled to wake up and find herself with Thorne."

"Really?" said Thorne, puffing up a bit. "And here I thought she had a thing for Kai."

"Iko has a thing for…attractive men. Period."

"So you do think I'm attractive then?" said Thorne, while Kai rolled his eyes. He felt relieved when Cinder did the same thing.

"Since we're friends now, I guess…yeah, maybe, but only when you're not being so cocky."

He beamed at her. "I think we're going to be great friends, Cinder."

* * *

><p>The walk to the subway was longer than he anticipated—and much, much colder. Cinder didn't look bothered by either the walk or the cold, though.<p>

"Who's Torin?"

"Oh, he's my father's private driver."

Cinder gawked. "You have a private driver?! Wow…"

Kai felt slightly ashamed. "I try not to use him much, but I got pickpocketed on Saturday night and I have to get to the DMV to get a new license. Actually, I should probably do that today."

"Where'd you get pickpocketed?"

"Believe it or not, I was at my birthday party. It was at the Villa, and I guess it must have happened in the elevator or in the lobby."

"That stinks. But happy birthday!" She gave him a thumbs up before sticking her hands back in her coat pockets.

"Thanks." The same complacency he had yesterday ran over him when he thought about his party again.

"And the Villa…huh. Probably a pretty fancy party, then?"

"The fanciest. Black tie."

"You go to those kinds of parties a lot?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oh, you don't like them?"

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's okay," he said, wanting to change the topic.

* * *

><p>When they got to the subway, Cinder made a big deal about going her own way. It was like she didn't want Kai to know where she lived, let alone what line she would take. He wanted to be a gentleman—just as Thorne had said—and make sure she got home safely, but she wasn't having it.<p>

"Really, I'm fine, I live on the completely opposite side of the city," she said.

"You don't even know where I live."

"Probably near the Villa." True, but…

"I really don't mind."

She held out her hand to him. "Thank you, Kai, for accompanying me this far. I've really got to be going—I insist."

He shook her hand but couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying to get rid of him. Sometimes he wished he could be as smooth as Thorne. Maybe he should have just talked about the stupid party.

"Okay…" he started to say, but she took off ahead of him, and disappeared into the crowds.


	4. Chapter 4

Nainsi was already waiting for him with a list of things he needed to attend to when he got back to his apartment. He shouldn't have expected any less, of course, but a part of him had hoped that "taking the day off" would really mean, well, just that.

"Good morning, Sir. Did you have a good time with Master Thorne?"

"Nainsi, seriously, I know you're foreign, but you sound like you're in a movie. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Kai?"

"I'm afraid that would be inappropriate, Sir."

"Nainsi, you practically raised me. Please, call me Kai. And stop calling Thorne "Master."

She smiled kindly. "I believe that he enjoys that salutation."

"Thorne enjoys any salutation that makes him seem like he's the master of the world."

"Do you remember when he pretended to be in the military, and asked everyone to call him Captain Thorne?"

Kai could barely contain a groan. "Yes, and we're all really glad that phase is over." Actually, that phase wasn't totally over, if Kai were honest. Even though Thorne had no desire to be in the military, he still sometimes pretended he did for the women who appreciated men in uniform. He'd obviously never asked, but Kai was sure that he worked that into his dating relationships somehow. He shuddered at just how much he actually knew about Thorne's love life.

"Well, until you find a younger and more capable caretaker, and I remain in this position, I will continue to address you with the respect that is due to a man of your status."

"Status shmatus. And I don't want another caretaker. Nobody knows how to take care of me like you do." He slumped on the couch, knowing that she would still continue to call him Sir. They'd had this conversation probably a thousand times, so he wasn't even sure why he bothered anymore.

"Would you like to hear your messages now?"

"Okay."

"Mr. Deshal has requested that two items be brought to your attention. First, he has been investigating your pickpocketing."

"Really? I didn't know people investigated pickpockets."

"Mr. Deshal is very concerned for your safety, of course." Made sense. Huy Deshal was his father's head of security, and he was very protective. Kai was pretty sure that he had likely been a spy at some point in his life.

"He unfortunately does not have any leads, but he believes the security cameras at the Villa will provide him with sufficient evidence to apprehend the criminal. In the meantime, he's gone ahead and canceled all of your credit and debit cards and alerted the authorities of possible future fraud."

"Great."

"Of course," she continued, "until you receive your new cards, you will need access to money. I've taken the liberty of calling the stores and restaurants you most typically frequent, and they have all agreed that due to your loyalty level as a client, any purchases you make can just be added to a tab."

"Can't I just write them a check?"

"Mr. Deshal has frozen all of your accounts at the moment, in case this pickpocketing is not random, but rather targeted to you specifically in order to gain information on accounts pertaining to you personally or those of Rikan Corp. A check would bounce, Sir."

"Got it."

"Second, Human Resources has presented a candidate to Mr. Deshal for the vacant cyber security position."

"Oh, good, that's been a long time coming." The last hack into Rikan Corp had cost them several million dollars to sort out. "But why did they pass it to Huy?"

"They felt it…prudent, to say the least, Sir. Some red flags came up in her background clearance, so they asked Mr. Deshal to run a more thorough investigation of her history."

"Huh. But if she has red flags, why are we even considering her?"

Nainsi pointed at a big manila folder lying on his desk in the corner of the room. "If you take a look, I think you will see that she is, without a doubt, extremely talented in her field. Mr. Deshal is not completely convinced that she is a right fit for this company, however, so he requested that I ask you to take a look yourself to give a final recommendation. Considering the gravity of our last internet breach, he believes that your father would not want this information in the hands of anyone except family."

He sighed. "I guess if I have no choice…"

"Thank you, Sir."

She hesitated.

"Anything else, Nainsi?"

"Ah—yes. There is also a message from Ms. Blackburn." Kai took a deep breath and closed his eyes. She _obviously_ had his number. Why did she always insist on leaving messages with Nainsi?

"She was calling to remind you about the reservations tonight at Lunar Terrace. It's that new—"

"Yeah, I know what the Lunar Terrace is. And I haven't forgotten about tonight."

"She also says that she'd like you to wear your white tie," Nainsi added, looking at the floor.

He glanced down at the sweater he'd borrowed from Thorne, and the jeans he'd been wearing since yesterday. He should just show up like this. The look on her face alone would be worth it.

"You can tell her that I'll be there, of course."

Nainsi looked up again. "Excellent. In that case, Ms. Blackburn says that she'll send Aimery around to pick you up at 7:00 PM sharp."

Aimery. Now there was someone who had most _definitely _been a spy.

* * *

><p>"Hey man."<p>

"What's up, Thorne? Everything go okay with Iko?"

"Oh yeah, it was fine. She was all over me, but I gave her the friend speech too. She needed it, unlike Cinder."

"Two friend speeches in one day. Is that a record for you?"

"Not even close. So listen, Cinder just texted me and said Iko forgot to leave your hoodie at my place when she left. Apparently she thought it was really comfortable. Cinder convinced her to give it back to you, though."

"It's not that big of a deal, really."

"Whatever. Point is, I gave Cinder your number to give to Iko, okay? You can coordinate a time to go get it, or I'm sure you can send one of your dad's minions on your behalf too."

Kai glanced at the screen but saw that he hadn't received any new notifications. He pressed the phone back to his ear. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out. Thanks."

"So what are you doing tonight?" asked Thorne.

"Going to a restaurant with Levana."

"You're _not_! Stop this bullshit, Kai."

"Thorne, you said yesterday that if I went to your party, you would shut up about her. A deal's a deal."

"That was the deal yesterday. Today's a new day. Carpe Diem."

"I'm hanging up now."

As he disconnected the call, he saw that his hand was shaking. He could not—would not—have this conversation with Thorne again.

* * *

><p>After a hot, much needed shower, he felt a little better. He grabbed the sandwich that Nainsi had left out for him, and settled back into his study. Kai picked up the manila folder to get started. By the size of it, it would probably take him several hours to go through. At least he could lie on the couch while he read. He opened up the folder and turned to the first page, which was nearly blank. A red CONFIDENTIAL was stamped diagonally across the top. Below it, in typed letters, it said:<p>

SECURITY INVESTIGATION: CRESCENT MOON DARNEL

Poor girl, he thought, flipping to the next page. Probably had hippie parents.


	5. Chapter 5

Two days later, Kai still hadn't heard anything from Iko. He wasn't exactly sure why this bothered him, but he sure did check his cell phone an awful lot more than he normally did. Each time he became slightly more irritated that his inbox was free of numbers he didn't recognize.

It surprised him, then, when his secretary called that Wednesday to tell him that a certain 'Miss Cinder Linh' was waiting in the first-floor lobby, asking to see Kai.

"She's not carrying any ID right now, and she looks a bit dirty," his secretary told him in a hushed tone. "Should I tell her that you're in a meeting?"

"Oh no, by all means, send her up. You can make a note that she's a friend of Thorne's."

"I will, Sir, thank you."

About one minute and twenty-three seconds later—not that he was counting—he saw the light on top of the elevator go on and the doors open. He craned his neck to get a better look at her, but could only see that she was checking in with the security guard on his floor. After signing the guest log, she started to make her way over to Kai. He looked down at his notes so as to not make her uncomfortable, but out of the corner of his eye he saw that many people turned in their cubicles to stare at her.

Finally, when she was close enough, he took in her appearance. She did, in fact, look a bit grungy. She had a messy ponytail, baggy clothes, and a small grease splotch etched across part of her forehead. Kai, of course, knew she was a mechanic, so it made sense to him that she would look like this. It was just the stark contrast to all the pristine suits in his office, though, that really made it noticeable. He thought it was kind of amusing. In her hands, she carried Kai's hoodie.

He stood up as soon as she got to his door, and tried to put on his best welcoming smile. She looked momentarily startled, and he wasn't sure if maybe he had tried so hard to smile that it had come out looking too fake. He tried to brush it off and extended his hand to her.

"Cinder, what a surprise! Nice to see you again."

"Hi."

She looked around his office, taking in the big windows that overlooked the city. Her fingers wound themselves around the strings of the hood on his sweatshirt momentarily, but then she held it out to him. "Sorry it took so long to get this back to you."

He took it from her and leaned himself against his desk. "No problem. It's only been three days." Did it sound like he'd been counting?

"Iko's just been busy," she said. "She wasn't too keen on giving it up either, I think, but I saw her last night and made sure I got it from her. I just had my lunch break from work so I thought I'd drop it off while I had the time."

"Well, that was really thoughtful of you. I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here, though. I could have easily picked it up."

"Oh no," she said. "It was nice enough for you to lend it to Iko; the least I could do was bring it back."

"Actually, I had left it out for you, but in the end it suits Iko, doesn't it?" He smiled at the thought.

"You left it out for me?" Crap. Why had he said that? Maybe she _would_ think he was creepy now. He had just been trying to be nice.

"So—you were saying, you're on your lunch break?"

She looked at him for a moment before replying. "Yes."

"I haven't eaten yet," he said, looking down at his watch, "and I guess it's my lunch break too. Care to join me?"

Cinder looked down at her feet. If he wasn't mistaken, a small blush was forming on her cheeks. Hopefully, he wasn't being too forward. "Thank you, Kai, but I've really got to get back to the garage. It's going to take me too long on the subway to get back again if I stop to eat."

"Nonsense," he said, waving away her comment. "I'll drive you back myself. We can pick up something on the way."

Cinder didn't look convinced. "Come on, I already feel bad enough that you had to come all the way out here."

"But won't you be late getting back then? It's all the way across town."

"Me? Nah, I'm the boss on this floor." Yikes. That sounded arrogant. "I mean, not bragging or anything."

"Clearly."

"I just mean that it won't matter too much if I get back a little late." He looked at his watch again. "I'll probably be here 'til midnight tonight anyway. I could definitely use the break."

She fidgeted with one of her fingernails. "Well, alright I guess."

He quickly grabbed his keys off the desk and steered her out the door before she could think of changing her mind. As they walked towards the elevator, he noticed that everyone stared at them, but as he got nearer to each cubicle, the employees quickly turned back to their computers in an attempt to be discrete. He hoped Cinder hadn't noticed.

He swiped his ID badge to open the elevator, and after the usual long minute of waiting for it to arrive to the 28th floor, it pinged and they stepped inside. Cinder immediately went to the corner of the elevator, and after pushing the downward arrow, he moved to stand in front of her.

"Hey, no big deal or anything, but I just wanted to let you know that you have a little bit of grease on your forehead. Right—" he moved his thumb to brush at the spot, "—here." Cinder flinched when he touched her, but when he listed his head to the side to look her in the eyes, she didn't look freaked out by him—just a little flustered. He grinned and held out his thumb. "I think I got most of it, though."

Cinder definitely blushed this time, but it was out of mortification. "Oh my stars, I can't believe I just walked into Rikan Corp looking like I just got out from under the hood." She wiped the back of her arm across her forehead.

He just laughed. "It's good to shock people every once in a while. Most of those people in there probably don't even know what a mechanic is. They probably have a secretary's secretary's secretary to deal with their car troubles."

"Like you?" she asked, the color of her cheeks returning to more of her normal shade. Not that he really knew her normal shade, in reality. It was only the second time he'd really seen her. Or third. If you counted the day after she had slept over at Thorne's. Or whatever. Why was he thinking about math in this moment anyway? He cleared his thoughts and looked back at her, knowing that the elevator was about to arrive. She was staring at him now, and he noticed the warmth that filled her brown eyes.

He needed to get a grip.

* * *

><p>"So everything's okay with your license now?"<p>

"Yeah, it wasn't a big deal in the end, I guess. Just a pain at the DMV, like always. No one can avoid feeling terrible there."

She nodded and reached out to turn up the heat on the dash, and then changed the radio station.

"Not enjoying my music selection?"

"It's okay, it's just that this station plays at work all day. I like to hear something different when I'm not there." She turned to look at him. "This car's not as fancy as I imagined. I imagined a convertible, definitely."

"Convertibles are not that useful in the winter."

"Well, you know what I mean."

"This is the first car I ever had. I was able to get it with money that I saved up on my own, and I liked that. I've had to get it fixed several times, but it's mine. Now when I drive it, I feel like I can get out of my head a bit."

"That's how I feel when I'm fixing cars."

"How did you get into that, anyway? Take a lot of shop class in school?"

"I didn't go to school that much. I got my GED, though, and took a few community college classes, but I realized that I liked working with cars, and so that's what I decided to continue doing."

"Huh." He remembered thinking at Thorne's house that she was incredibly bright, so it surprised him that she hadn't even gone to college. "Are you really related to Garan Linh?"

"Kind of. He was my step-father. He taught me about cars when I was younger. When he died, my mother had us all change our last names to honor him. But I think it's more because she wanted to feel famous and important. I guess I don't mind the recognition, though. It helps with employment."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"Oh, okay." She must have been in this field for only a few years then. "I'm twenty-six," he added.

He pulled into a drive-through, and Cinder looked at him curiously. "Really? A drive-through?"

He shrugged. "I thought you were pressed for time. We can go somewhere else."

"No, it's fine. Just thought this type of food might be…beneath you."

He pretended to look hurt. "Ouch. Just because I have a lot of money doesn't mean I have to do everything lavishly. I think if you take the time to get to know me, you'll find I'm a pretty normal guy."

"I doubt that."

Okay, then. He ordered an extra huge helping of fries for himself and Cinder ordered a full meal. When he pulled up to the window, he reached for the wallet in his back pocket, but then realized that he still hadn't gotten his accounts cleared. Kai was pretty sure that Nainsi hadn't called this establishment either to create a tab for him. She would never assume he'd eat here.

He was about to turn to Cinder and sheepishly ask if she could spot him just this once, but she was already thrusting some cash into his lap. "Please, let me pay," she said.

"Well, normally I would say no, but I actually don't have any money, I just realized."

A smile formed on her lips. "Oh, good."

"I'll pay you back, of course."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Kai, it's just some fast food. Don't make it into a big deal."

"But maybe I want to pay for you."

She folded her hands in her lap and looked down. "I couldn't possibly take anything else from you."

Kai was starting to get a bit frustrated at her responses and he wanted to ask her what she meant by that exactly, but the lady at the window was already tapping her fingers impatiently at him. So instead, he just took the cash in his lap and paid. When they got their food, Cinder turned up the radio pretty loudly, indicating that the conversation was probably over. He sighed, shoved a fry into his mouth, and pulled out of the drive-through.

* * *

><p>When they got to the garage, he saw Thorne was standing in the waiting area, and decided to get out to greet him, since Cinder would probably be offended if he tried to walk with her. Thorne's eyes light up like a little child at Christmas when he saw the two of them.<p>

"There you are! Cinder, I'm dying to see the Rampion. I heard she's done."

"She is," said Cinder, returning his grin.

Thorne nodded at Kai and he saw a smirk forming on his lips. "Didn't realize Kai had stolen you away. You could've warned me, man, so I wouldn't have had to wait here for so long."

"I didn't know she was coming," said Kai simply.

"Just dropping off his hoodie," added Cinder.

"Ah." But when Cinder turned to get the keys off of the hanging rack, Thorne raised his eyebrows at Kai as if silently saying, "and…?"

Kai ignored him. He was just about to leave, considering that there was no need for him to watch as Cinder and Thorne talked about the Rampion, but Thorne halted him.

"Kai, don't you think Cinder should come to that fundraiser this weekend?" Thorne gave Kai a very long, knowing look which made Kai bristle.

"Uh—yeah. It should be fun."

"What kind of fundraiser is it?" asked Cinder skeptically.

"It's a dance," said Thorne, extending his hand out to Cinder and bowing dramatically, as if inviting her to dance. She instantly looked nervous.

"I don't really dance. I mean, I like it, but it's more the dressing up that bothers me. I'm not really a dress person."

"But _my lady_, this fundraiser requires a different type of dressing up." Thorne was so annoying sometime with his theatrics.

"Oh?"

"It's a masquerade theme," clarified Kai. "The whole point is to look like something you're not. Wear a mask or a costume that hides your identity. People tend to find that sort of thing thrilling, so it's one of our biggest events. I can even get Thorne to come willingly."

"And that's saying something," added Thorne.

"A masquerade? Hmm. Well, I guess that doesn't sound so bad, if I could wear whatever I want." She seemed to brighten at the thought.

"I'll recognize you if you come as a mechanic," he said, winking at her.

"Kai," said Thorne, rolling his eyes, "it's not a Halloween party."

"No, it sounds okay," said Cinder. "Can I bring Iko?"

"Sure," said Kai. "I'll have Torin drop off your formal invites tomorrow. Can you text me your address? Oh, speaking of, I don't have your number."

Cinder gestured to the counter. "Oh, you can just tell him to drop it off here at the garage. I'm here every day anyway."

"Okay, I'll tell him to do that then."

Thorne stole another look between the two of them before turning to Cinder and pointing at the door behind the counter. "Shall we?"

"Right. She's ready for you. See you later, Kai."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yep, you guessed it. Next installment will coincide with TLC Ship Weeks' Kai X Cinder prompt "Masquerade." I'm kind of excited about it.**  
><strong>


	6. Masquerade Part 1

Scarlet adjusted the mask on Kai's face and gave him a once-over. She nodded in approval. "Well, it's not much of a disguise, really, but you do look rather handsome."

She had mussed up his hair with gel, making his bangs fall slightly into his face and hang down further than he was used to. She'd also made him wear an elegant silky white shirt to compliment the dark pants that he'd already been wearing when her and Kesley had arrived at his apartment with Thorne to get ready for the fundraiser. In reality it was really more for Scarlet to get ready, since the guys didn't require as much prep time as she did. Kai was technically supposed to be one of the hosts of this masquerade, though, so he_ had_ been a little grateful when Scarlet had offered to help him look his best.

Scarlet squinted at him again. "Hmm, I think it's missing something."

She left to go rummage in Kai's closet, her red hair bouncing behind her in loose curls. It might have been the only time in his life that Kai wished that he could have had access to Thorne's enormous wardrobe—surely Scarlet could find whatever she wanted in there, and this would be over sooner. Kai inspected himself in the mirror while he waited and didn't feel that this look suited him too much. He missed the strange comfort and security of his normal dress shirt and tie. It was going to be uncomfortable enough to be in the spotlight at such a big event. He'd attended since he was younger, and as he'd said to Cinder, it was one of the only events that he could get Thorne to come to without persuasion or offering some sort of bribe in return. It made sense. Thorne loved to dance—and he was good at it. Kai, on the other hand, knew _how_ to dance—he'd taken the same ballroom lessons that Thorne had when they were younger—but he didn't have the natural rhythm that allowed him to move the way he would have liked.

Scarlet returned with something that looked like a red Boy Scout sash. He eyed it warily. "What is that?"

"It's a sash."

"I can see that. And why would I wear that?"

"It'll make you look like royalty. Now we just need some gloves."

"Gloves?" He knew he was whining.

"Kai, it's a Prince Charming look. It'll make the girls go crazy."

He gave her a warning look. "Scarlet, you know I'm not looking for anyone."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I _know_, you don't always have to remind me. Can't a girl hope for change?"

He looked at the ceiling for patience. Thorne's opinions were probably rubbing off on her and Kesley. Everyone should just stop interfering with his business already. Scarlet dragged him out of the dressing room to stand before Kesley and Thorne. "So…what do you think?!" she asked excitedly.

"Looks great," grunted Kesley non-committedly. He took another sip of his drink. Kai knew that he was only here to support Scarlet, and not because he actually cared about what Kai was going to wear tonight. The bar that was constantly stocked in Kai's apartment was probably a draw as well.

Thorne eyed him lazily. "Why does everyone still think this is a costume party? We're too old for this." Thorne was just wearing slacks and a button-up shirt with a tie, but he had a mask dangling around his neck and a black fedora-style hat tipped on the side of his head. He had vehemently insisted to Scarlet that he looked so good that it would be a shame to cover up his appearance with anything besides the mask.

"It's a _masquerade,_ Thorne. A lot of people will look like they're in a costume. These types of dances were popular in the Victorian Era. You'll see a lot of people who look like royalty."

"Royalty has never interested me," he replied.

Kesley was wearing a sleek suit that could have helped him audition for a mafia movie. It really fit his personality and past well, because it was incredibly intimidating. Scarlet was wearing more of a flapper-style evening gown, and she looked like she belonged in that exact same movie. Of course they would dress to match each other.

"The question is," continued Thorne, "whether _Kai _likes it."

Kai glanced down again and shrugged. "Scarlet did a great job."

Scarlet beamed, but Thorne made a face. "And yet you look like you're going to your funeral. Kai, could you be enthusiastic about _something_ for once please? I'm trying to be there for you bro, but this whole emo phase is really bringing me down. You've been like a robot for the last year."

Two years, really. Two years.

Thorne got out of his chair and put his arm around Kai. The shot glass in his hand threatened to spill its contents out on Kai's shirt. "Relax. This is the time to not have any inhibitions, okay? You can be whoever you want tonight."

Whoever he wanted. In theory it was an intriguing thought. But who was that, exactly?

* * *

><p>Several reporters took pictures as they stepped out of the limo. By the time they made it inside the hotel, it was already packed. The entire place had been rented out for the night; each room had a different dance theme. This was a good thing, considering that all of Rikan Corp was expected to attend, and the generational gaps called for various tastes in music.<p>

Kai quickly checked the guest list after he dropped his coat off with the concierge, and saw that Cinder and Iko hadn't arrived yet. He'd put them on a VIP list so that they wouldn't have to wait in the same line as everyone else. It was unlikely that he would be able to find them regardless, even if they had already arrived, because there were just too many people. For some reason, he didn't feel like it was appropriate to ask Thorne for their numbers so he could eventually find them. Kai hoped that they would have fun anyway. He was a bit apprehensive about Cinder fitting in with the throng of sophisticated guests, since she was so intent on not wearing a dress. At least they were all in costume, so it wouldn't matter if someone singled her out like they had at his office—they wouldn't be able to tell who she was.

The four of them made their way into the hallway that connected to the different ballrooms. Kai really hoped that he wouldn't run into his father—or anyone else he knew, for that matter. He'd eventually have to talk to some people, since—as Scarlet had pointed out—he did rather look like himself. That being said, his outfit didn't look out of place at all. Many people had donned royalty-looking theme clothes that matched with their masks. He gave Scarlet a quick squeeze and whispered, "thanks for the wardrobe help," just loud enough that only she could hear him. Thorne, despite not being in costume, walked around with a swagger that it made it seem as though he was the most appropriately dressed of all of them. It was so typical.

When they reached the main ballroom, Thorne shepherded them to the bar so they could get some drinks. Kai was already feeling slightly buzzed from their time at his apartment, so he got a Coke instead. That earned him a grunt of amusement from Kesley, but Kai didn't care. Maybe if he were 6'4" and over two hundred pounds of solid muscle he could afford to drink a little more without getting completely wasted. He had duties to his company as a host after all, and this fundraiser was for a good cause.

While he waited with Kesley for Scarlet and Thorne to get their drinks, Levana flitted into his thoughts, and he scanned the room. She didn't seem like she would miss this event for anything, but for some reason he couldn't seem to remember getting any messages from Nainsi about what her plans were for the evening. Maybe she was off in Paris again; it was hard to keep track of all her traveling. After their dinner on Monday, he had no desire to see her tonight anyway, so it was definitely a good thing that she hadn't requested Kai's attention at the Masquerade.

Drink finally in hand, Scarlet gave him a peck on the cheek and disappeared towards the salsa room with Kesley. Thorne wanted to head to the techno room, but Kai begged him to stay in the main ballroom. It was the only kind of dancing he wasn't bad at, and this room was strategically positioned near the entrance, so he could monitor the guests that arrived. Thorne whined about how slow music like this would mess up his ability to show off his moves, but he agreed that he would accompany Kai for max another hour.

"But it's only because I'm worried about you," he added. And, "I'm going to find you a girl."

That was probably the moment in which Kai started admitting to himself that he kind of had a crush on Cinder. If he didn't, then why was he just constantly wondering when she would show up? There were thousands of single women here, and he could only focus on one. He felt guilty about it, though. He didn't want to tell Thorne either, because Cinder had originally been Thorne's date—and only a week ago! And since when did Kai and Thorne like the same girls? But Thorne had said he wasn't interested and had pulled the friend speech on her…

He'd have to tell Thorne eventually.

Now just wasn't the right time.

Besides, maybe it would pass. He had no idea where Cinder was, and Thorne was already checking out women for him. Masked women, of course. The whole idea was pretty ridiculous to Kai. He didn't want to get to know a complete stranger and then never see her again. He wanted real connection, and that was probably why he was hardly ever attracted to anyone. Or maybe it was just to spite Thorne, who never hesitated to push Kai's patience. Either way, he'd searched the room a million times and he was sure that there wasn't a single person in this entire establishment that was wearing pants. Cinder simply wasn't there.

After almost an hour of pretending to be interested in some of Thorne's suggestions, and even dancing with two of them graciously when they asked, he found himself sitting at one of the tables, drinking another Coke. Thorne was drumming his fingers on the table and telling Kai that he'd never seen him act more boring in his whole life. Then Thorne pointed at the balcony that overlooked the ballroom.

"Look, there's an angel if I ever saw one. She's perfect, and she even matches your outfit. If you don't pay attention to her, I will. I always thought it'd be fun to date Cinderella." Kai glanced up, expecting to be disappointed again, but then paused mid-look. Thorne was right. She was _breathtaking_.

Kai noticed the girl next to her as well. She had dark skin decorated with shiny beads and dyed blue braids that complimented a rather revealing dress and a blue mask. Her heels were probably several inches high, and she towered over the other. But she was nothing—nothing—compared to the girl that Thorne was pointing at. She really did look like Cinderella, complete with a white ball gown, dress gloves that went up her arms to connect with her dress, and a crown fitted to her head. Her white mask sparkled with little white gems.

And her hair. It was a gorgeous chestnut that fell just past her shoulders, with flowing volume and loose curls. Kai _did _love brunettes. He watched as she stood by the railing and scanned the room as her friend pointed excitedly at the crowd. He realized suddenly that he was standing up.

"Well, is this supposed to mean that you are possibly interested in her after all?" asked Thorne, trying to hide the smug look on his face.

"She is certainly beautiful."

"Ask her to dance. Go introduce yourself as Prince Charming."

"She's way up there."

"She'll come down sooner or later, don't worry," said Thorne encouragingly.

"She'll probably want to dance with you," he said glumly. "And besides, I don't even know her."

"Well _get_ to know her. That's kind of the point. And, while I'm flattered at your jealousy, I was just joking. I've never been a Cinderella man myself."

"Oh."

"If you go dance with her, I can finally go to the other rooms and enjoy myself. It's a win-win, Kai."

He looked up again apprehensively. The girl was still standing there with her friend. Maybe Thorne was right. He hadn't had a lot of fun lately, and besides, it was just dancing. He'd already had two flop dance partners tonight, so could one more hurt? And maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe her inner beauty would match her outer beauty. Kai shook his head. Thorne was right—he _was_ boring! And clearly a bit too sentimental for his own good. This girl was beautiful, and she had caught his eye. If he couldn't pluck up the courage to ask Thorne for Cinder's number, then he had no business sitting here feeling sorry for himself. Or whatever he was doing. Moping? He needed to stop moping. He could be enjoying the evening with someone else.

Cinderella turned to go down the stairs with her friend, and Kai glanced at Thorne, who was now looking amused. "Is that your inner turmoil look, Kai? I've gotta say, it's a pretty bad look on you."

"Shut up, Thorne."

Thorne, as usual, was not intimidated in the least by Kai's annoyance. "I'm going to help you out, because _clearly_ you need some extra help, and I'm feeling generous tonight." Thorne began to drag Kai in the direction of the doorway.

"Now, you're going to stand here, and when she walks in, you're going to wait a few minutes before you approach her. But only a few. You don't want to seem too desperate, but you also don't want someone else to snatch her up. You're going to introduce yourself as Prince Charming, and you're going to call her Cinderella. She'll like that, I wager. Oh, and tell her friend that she looks pretty too. You'll need her approval as well."

"I know how to ask a girl to dance, thank you very much," said Kai sourly.

"Do you now? Well that's news to me since_ you haven't asked one single person to dance the entire evening._ Plenty of fish in the sea here. Hook one."

"Go away."

Thorne pumped his fist in the air triumphantly. "That's the spirit! Now, as always, don't forget to be a gentleman." He winked and withdrew to the hallway just as Kai saw Cinderella come down the steps.

She walked slowly and precisely, as if she wasn't too sure on her feet. The pretty blue-haired girl, on the other hand, was full of confidence and energy. They walked through the doorway and stopped to take in the scene. It was impressive, really, if one stopped to think about it. The decorators his father had commissioned for the event were some of the premier event planners in the whole city. It was very regal. For some reason, this added to his confidence, because it was as though the fates had decided that Prince Charming should dance with Cinderella tonight.

The fates. What? He made a mental note not slip up and say something cheesy like that when he talked to this girl. After waiting a few minutes—yes, he did take Thorne's advice on that one, even though he'd never admit it—Kai grabbed two champagne glasses from a nearby waiter and headed towards the girls. As he approached, though, the blue-haired girl's eyes suddenly widened. She nudged her friend and took off. Cinderella looked confused for a moment, as she searched for her friend, until her eyes fell on Kai. She froze. Then she cleared her throat and straightened her back.

Kai extended one champagne glass. "Good evening. I _had_ originally gotten these two for you and your friend, but since she seems to have disappeared, maybe I'll just keep this for myself."

"Uh—thank you," she replied, taking the glass. She took a sip and Kai stepped a little closer. Up-close, she was even more beautiful than he had previously imagined. Her eyes were startling. They were brown, and big, and warm, and—_wait,_ _he recognized those eyes_. He stared at her, his memory taking him back to the elevator at his office. A longing started to grow from within. He'd only been fantasizing about those brown eyes for the past week. Was this…could it be…? She was wearing a dress, though, and she said she hated dresses. He'd been scanning the crowd for girls in pants all night. And he'd never seen her with her hair down, let alone with any makeup on.

"_Cinder_?" he asked incredulously.

Her eyes widened. "Ex-excuse me?" she stuttered.

"It's Kai," he said, leaning closer, barely able to contain the excitement in his voice.

"My—my name is Selene," she said, sounding an awful lot like Cinder.

Kai was momentarily disappointed, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him. But then he thought about Thorne telling him to be whoever he wanted tonight, and he realized that maybe all of this was just a game. Maybe she just wanted to keep up the intrigue. It had to be her. Because he _needed _it to be her.

"Sorry, I meant Cinderella," he said, trying to recover, "but I must have gotten you confused with someone else." He took her gloved hand to his lips and placed a kiss on it. "The pleasure is all mine, _Princess_ Selene. You look incredibly beautiful. I'm...Prince Kai—Kaito. Prince Kaito." Aces, he was bad at pretending. He smiled at her as he released her hand. But unlike Cinder, she didn't look down or get flustered. She smiled right back, and he felt momentarily weak in the knees. She was stunning.

"May I have the next dance?" He held out his hand to her. She nodded, and placed her hand in his. He led her towards the ballroom floor and deposited their champagne glasses on a vacant table on the way. Hundreds of couples were already dancing, and Kai was happy to hear that the current song had a tempo that he was familiar with. At least he couldn't embarrass himself here.

As they began to dance, Selene-Cinder looked down at her feet. "I'm not very good at these steps," she said, looking a bit sheepish.

"Don't worry." He gripped her waist a little tighter. "I'll guide you."

She followed his lead pretty well, even though he could tell that she had probably never danced to this type of music before. Little by little, she got better though, and seemed like she began to understand the steps. He took a step, raised her hand above her head, and spun her out. A look of pure joy plastered her face when she mastered the turn. Her smile made his heartbeat quicken, and so he spun her again just to see it again. She laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, too. Was there anything about this girl that wasn't attractive?

After a minute or two a new song came on, this time much slower than the last. He held out his arms again, hoping she would still want to dance with him, and his heart almost leapt out of his chest when she accepted. He pulled her body closer to his, and her arms encircled his neck as he put both hands on her waist. Kai didn't want the song to end.

He could see her so clearly now. Her dark eyes were the perfect contrast to the shimmering white mask. The warmth of those eyes began to infiltrate his mind, and he realized he was having trouble thinking coherent thoughts. Her mouth was so inviting. Maybe if he could just move a step closer…he could just…

Her kiss surprised him. It was gentle and a bit hesitant—barely more than a brush on his lips. Kai wanted to put her at ease, to let her know that he wanted more too, so he kissed her back almost instantly. He was gentle too, but more confidence emanated from his lips, and soon she was reciprocating. Kai felt warmth wash all over his body. Before he could stop himself, he pushed his hands into her wavy locks. Their kisses deepened. He could taste the lip gloss on her lips and the recently consumed champagne on her tongue. His desire took over, fogging up any rationality he tried to cling to, as if his heart had been storing reserves of these feelings just for this precise moment. He began to lose himself in their embrace, and slowly yet all at once, the heavy chains of the past two years started to loosen.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kai recognized that he was kissing a complete stranger. But he didn't care.

Because he knew it was Cinder.

It just had to be.


	7. Masquerade Part 2

**THORNE**

He leaned against the back wall by the entryway as he watched Kai dance with the girl who looked like Cinderella.

_Thank the stars._

Thorne had been trying to hook Kai up with someone for the last year. Kai desperately needed a happy distraction from his life. A cute girl was the perfect place to start. Thorne _was _surprised to see Kai looking quite enthralled by someone he didn't know, though. Frankly, he'd been expecting Kai to hold out for Cinder.

Yeah, okay. It had all been a set up. Not that he'd ever tell anyone. But who could blame him? Kai would _never_ have agreed to go on a blind date. That guy just took everything way too seriously.

After only ten minutes of talking to Cinder last week at the garage, Thorne had already begun plotting how to introduce her to Kai. Physically, Cinder was Kai's type through and through, though admittedly she could use a little freshening up and maybe even some new clothes. No big deal, though. Completely fixable. She also had the kind of personality that Kai would consider a breath of fresh air, and a sarcastic edge that echoed Kai's to boot.

The situation had been a bit tricky to maneuver, if he were honest, but he was glad that he hadn't underestimated how much he knew his best friend. He'd seen the way Kai had looked at her in his kitchen—he was definitely into her. He probably didn't even know it himself yet. Well, no surprise there. Thorne was the expert in the area of romance, not Kai. Good thing, too. Lately, Kai was just hopeless.

If it were anyone else, he'd probably be a little pissed that Kai had tried to flirt with the girl Thorne was supposed to be into right in front of him—and in his own house nonetheless. But it was almost better this way. Let Kai think that he'd come up with the idea himself. It wasn't like Thorne could ever convince him of anything useful these days anyway. Except now he was dancing with the pretty stranger Thorne had suggested, so apparently something had clicked. Well, good for him. Maybe Kai wasn't thinking about Cinder as much as he'd expected. Thorne prayed that Kai would enjoy himself and at least get her number, if not more.

Kai had been too boring throughout the evening to venture into the other dance rooms, preferring the ballroom music room. Aka the Dance With Your Parents Room. Now that Kai had found his own little Cinderella, no doubt he would be staying there. Thorne knew that his own scene was more along the lines of techno rave or club, though, and since he didn't have to babysit Kai anymore, he headed in that direction. As soon as he entered another room and felt the bass vibrating down through his core, he let out an exhilarated sigh. He loved this scene. It was mysterious, dark, and you could be whoever you wanted. No boundaries, no rules. Just the way he preferred to live his life.

Tonight, he was going to party. And it was going to be a great night. He weaved his way through the crowd to get a feel for the space. As the music pounded, the strobe lights made everything move just a little more than usual, and Thorne wondered briefly if he were perhaps a bit more buzzed than he'd thought.

It was obvious that this room had attracted the younger crowd. He saw a lot of sweaty bodies and a whole lot of grinding. And then some. Thorne chuckled to himself. _Rich people_. They were so uptight. But give them an open bar and some disguises, and these people let their wild sides come out. Good thing he could handle a little wild. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

Thorne caught a few ladies look him up and down with desire as he passed them. He knew he looked good, but it still confirmed his decision to not wear a costume. His mask coupled with the fedora gave him a naughty debonair look, and it was quite fitting for his intentions for the night. Women liked mystery, and he could give them mystery. It was all in good fun.

The DJ changed songs and to Thorne's delight, it was a crowd favorite. He knew this song could get anyone going. He strategically made his way to the middle of the dance floor and caught the beat almost instantly. Rolling up his sleeves, he began laying out his moves, starting slow and building up to the more entertaining ones. He knew just how to milk it into a bit of a show as people came near him to watch. Thorne threw in some freestyle here and there, and even launched himself on the ground to throw in a spin or two. Breakdancing wasn't his strongest area, but he wanted to keep the crowds riled up. They had already formed a circle around him and were cheering him on. He loved the way it stroked his ego—every time.

Thorne paused dramatically as the song came to the bridge and began to unbutton his shirt to the tempo. He heard a few gasps of appreciation as he revealed the white beater that he'd worn purposely for this occasion. It showed off just enough. Thorne pulled off his fedora and threw it casually at a girl nearby. She looked like she would faint, and he smirked with delight. Things were definitely going as planned.

He was about to go down on the ground again when a petite girl moved her way into the circle and in front of him. He wouldn't have thought anything of it initially, as he was used to girls coming out to dance with him—in fact, he expected it—except that this girl had added a little something to her appearance. Or a whole lot of something. The girl had hair that went past her knees, and the strobe light was making it seem a whole lot wilder than it probably already was. He was so caught off by the sight of it that he nearly missed a beat. But she dipped in front of him and grinned a little wickedly, and in an instant, he was back in the moment.

She matched his moves and kept inching her way closer. The crowd began to join them, the circle over. Thorne was impressed to see that this girl was keeping up with him, despite her hair going all over the place. As they danced, he tried to study her through the flashing lights. Hair aside, she was definitely attractive.

Cute face—check.  
>Tantalizing outfit—check.<br>Pretty good dance moves—check.  
>A bit of a devilish smile—check.<p>

When another song had gone by, she came closer, and he could hear her singing along to the music. She began dancing as if she were in a music video or on a stage. It was endearing and sexy at the same time. Yeah, even with a mask and too much hair—this girl definitely had his attention.

It was his turn to close the remaining gap between them. Before long, they were pressed up against each other. She had turned around and pushed her back into his stomach. She was so short that she barely went up to his collarbone. Still, he managed to slide his hand around her waist and pull her closer. Heat radiated off their bodies. Her hips matched his hips and they swayed together. Now that she was so close, he could see that she actually had blonde hair, and it was covered in slightly darker dirty blonde hair extensions that never seemed to end. He bent down to whisper in her ear. "Nice hair, babe."

She turned her head ever so slightly so that his lips brushed her hair. "They call me Rapunzel," she said, and ran her finger along Thorne's chin. Ah. Thorne loved a good role play. And with her crazy hair, she certainly looked the part.

"Rapunzel, huh?"

"That's right."

"Aw," he replied, "are you trapped in a tower? Do you need Prince Charming to come rescue you?"

As he said it, Thorne slightly regretted not dressing like a prince the way Kai had, so that he could look the part a bit more. But whatever. He was good-looking enough to be a prince anyway, without the costume. And "charming" might as well be his middle name.

"Maybe I need a rascal thief instead, who has different intentions than a prince."

Thorne practically moaned into her hair and slid his other hand onto her hip. Oh, he was going to like this girl. Rapunzel, however, pulled away and turned to face him. Then she gave him a seductive look that Thorne was all too happy to fall for, and she began to back away, never taking her eyes off of him. He followed her, slowly, rhythmically, as if they were just continuing their previous dance. But this wasn't a dance. This was a game.

And it was his favorite game.

He caught up with her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the center of the dance floor. Soon, they were dancing their way to one of the more secluded corners of the room. She pushed him against the wall.

"My name is Rapunzel and a scary witch has locked me away," she purred, widening her eyes with intentional innocence. Thorne was immediately intrigued.

But then he had a thought. "Wait...you're at least 18 aren't you?"

He saw blue eyes roll beneath the mask. "I'm twenty-three."

And that was all it took. Thorne spun them around so she was against the wall and went in for a hungry kiss. She tasted like alcohol and he wondered how much of his own drinks were influencing the flavor. He licked her lips for the go-ahead to enter, and soon they were doing a little bit of a game he liked to call _francais_. As much as he was enjoying it, he realized quickly that her short height was a disadvantage and his neck was getting stiff from bending down. His mask kept scraping against hers in this position too. He reached one hand down and found her thigh. Thorne felt her shake a little. He grabbed it more firmly and lifted her up against the wall so her face was at his level. There. That was better.

She nipped his ear. Oh spades, this girl was hott. They resumed kissing. Her extensions were wrapping all over him and driving him crazy, but he liked making out with her too much to care. After awhile, they stumbled over to a side booth and fell onto one of the couches, him landing on top of her. He leaned over her and she gave him a bit of a woozy smile.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"Well then," he said as he moved down to kiss her collarbone, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." He lavished her neck and collarbone with kisses that were slower than their previous rhythm. When he looked up to see if she was enjoying it, he was surprised to see that her eyes were closed. But not in the "I love this, Thorne" way that he was used to—instead, she looked like she was sleeping.

Wait.

Had he just put her to sleep?

"Rapunzel?" he asked, cupping her face. She didn't respond. He tried kissing her cheeks. Nothing.

"Aces," he muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He looked around for a few minutes, racking his brain for ideas of what to do now. It wasn't right to just leave her like this. He spotted a half-empty glass of water. That might do the trick, he thought. He considered pouring it over her, but felt like that was a pretty mean thing to do, even though she was passed out. Instead, he poured the water out on his hand instead and grabbed an ice cube. Hesitantly, he traced her lips with it, hoping the sudden cold would wake her up. Little drops of condensation formed wherever the ice cube made impact. Amused, he began to connect the freckles on her cheeks. After a few moments, her eyelashes fluttered open.

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked, as Thorne chuckled to himself.

"See what happens when you drink too much? The big bad thief will take advantage of your vulnerability." He couldn't resist poking her little nose with the ice cube. She swatted him away, but as she put her hand back down he saw her eyelids beginning to droop again.

"Oh no you don't." Thorne encircled her waist and pulled her into a sitting position. "You need to stay awake." He lifted her to her feet, his arms still tight around her. "C'mon, let's get you back to your tower, Rapunzel."

She kind of slumped against him as he guided her through the crowd again and out towards the exit. When he got out into the hallway, he saw a couple of people stare at them, probably remembering him from his earlier performance. But some of them murmured to each other and looked at them with disgust. He glanced down at the girl and noted her half-closed eyelids, loopy smile, and the way she sort of disappeared beneath her hair. Great. Here he was trying to help, and they probably thought he had drugged her or something.

When they finally reached the lobby, he looked her over and realized that her outfit was a bit too skimpy to likely have a cell phone hidden somewhere. He put his face right in front of her and held her cheeks so she would focus on him. "Do you have someone you can call?" he asked her. "A friend? Someone who can take you home or come pick you up?"

She squinted at him as if trying to think. "No." She closed her eyes again.

After calling Kai, Kesley, and Scarlet several times with no success, he wasn't sure to do. He certainly wasn't ready to go home and thus would not be accompanying her anywhere. This was a bit of a hiccup in his night, yes, but once he returned to the party he was sure that he would still want to stay until morning. Should he call a cab for her? No, that wasn't a great idea. What if the cabbie took advantage of a cute but very drunk girl? It was unlikely, but the thought of it made his stomach turn sour. He finally saw Nainsi's number, and dialed it, feeling incredibly guilty. It was already past 1:00 A.M. He hoped that her affection for him would extend into forgiveness for a wake-up call.

Luckily, she answered after a few rings. "Nainsi? Hi, this is Thorne. I'm really sorry to bother you—"

"Master Thorne? Are you okay? Are you in trouble again?"

Of course she would think that. "No, I'm fine. I'm so sorry about waking you up, but I have a friend who really needs help getting home and Kai's not answering his phone, and I have no idea where the others are, so—"

"Do you want me to call Torin?"

"Torin, or anyone who would be available at this hour."

"Are you at the Masquerade?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll have someone come within the next half hour."

"Thank you, Nainsi, you're amazing. You know how much I love you."

She yawned. "I know, my dear. Now you be safe."

"I will. Thanks again."

Thorne sat the girl down on a lobby couch near the concierge because he doubted that he could keep her standing for more than a few minutes, let alone another half hour. He also refused to wait outside in the cold. Speaking of, he realized that she probably had to have a coat of some sort too. She had much less clothing on than him, after all. "Hey, Rapunzel. Do you have a coat ticket?"

She shrugged after a minute. "I don't remember."

Thorne laid her down gently on the couch and hoped she would remain there while he went up to the concierge. "See that girl?" he asked, pointing to Rapunzel. The concierge barely glanced at her. "She doesn't remember where her ticket is, and she's a little drunk, so could you see if you remember which one is hers? Probably hard to forget a girl with hair like that, eh?" He winked.

The concierge looked bored. "No ticket, no coat."

"Oh c'mon, man." He pulled out a fifty dollar bill. "Just this once?"

"I said, no ticket, no coat."

Ugh. "Well can I at least have my own coat?"

"Do you have a ticket?"

"_Obviously_." He reached in his pocket and grabbed the little slip. A few moments later, the concierge returned from the back with his coat.

"Can I have a scrap of paper and a pen?" asked Thorne.

The concierge eyed him, bored again, and reached in his desk more slowly than Thorne would have liked before pulling out what he needed.

"I'll need that pen back," the concierge told him firmly as he extended it gingerly towards Thorne.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a bunch."

He scribbled on the paper. _Rapunzel, this coat belongs to your thief. Please call me so I can get it back_. Then he left his number.

He dropped the pen on the counter without even looking at the concierge again, and returned to Rapunzel, who luckily had stayed put. He laid his coat—with the note safely tucked in the pocket—over her and then sat down and checked his watch. 1:17 A.M.

He rested his elbow on the armrest and closed his eyes briefly, wondering how he had been so "lucky" to get into this situation. The dance at least had been fun while it lasted. So had the brief make out session. He still thought the hair was pretty strange, though. Who would even think of coming up with an outfit like that? In fact, under the strobe lights, she could almost pass for something out of a horror movie. If it weren't for her smile and sexy outfit, he probably wouldn't have given her a chance. Well, she did have good moves too. That had helped a lot.

Thorne felt a hand slide under his shirt and touch his bare skin, trailing along his abs. She giggled. "You're so sexy." She giggled again.

"Trust me, I'm aware," he replied, but he was already pulling her hand away. He enjoyed many things, but a barely-conscious girl trying to feel him up was not one of them.

"Can we kiss again?"

He laughed. "No."

She pouted, and he tucked a strand of her crazy extensions behind her ear. "Trust me, you would regret it tomorrow."

"But you're so...sexy."

If only she knew how much he had reciprocated the feeling only a half hour ago. Thorne sighed, and leaned his head back against the couch. He held her hand still on the couch, just in case she got the idea to touch him again.

After what seemed like forever, Torin pulled up to the entrance, and Thorne lifted Rapunzel to her feet. He draped the coat around her shoulders so it wouldn't fall down, and led her over to the car. Torin eyed him suspiciously, though Thorne could tell he was trying to restrain himself.

"Hey, Torin. This is—uh, Rapunzel."

Torin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know."

Torin didn't say anything, instead moving to hold open the door.

Thorne helped the girl slide into the backseat of the car, making sure she didn't hit her head. When she was all settled, he made sure he had her attention. "Rapunzel, this is Torin. He's going to get you home safely. Just tell him where you live, okay?"

She clutched his arm. "I love you."

He smirked. "Of course you do. We are obviously soulmates."

Thorne forced her to let go of his arm and closed the door. Torin was still looking at him in that oh-so-Torin way.

"She's drunk, just make sure she gets home alright." He gave Torin the fifty bucks the concierge hadn't accepted.

"That's not necessary, Sir," said Thorne.

"Still, take it for your trouble. And thanks."

He didn't wait for them to drive away. The temperature was too cold to bear, so he hurried back to the lobby. Thorne collected himself for a minute and then started in the direction of the dance rooms. It was time to get back to the party. After all, he wasn't going to be in his twenties forever and the night was still oh so young.


	8. Chapter 8

On Monday afternoon, Thorne drove to the Rikan Corp headquarters. He hated going there. Since it was in the center of the city, it was always packed with traffic and a whole bunch of pompous people. He tried not to think about how annoyed he was as he pulled into the parking garage below the enormous skyscraper. He was here to figure out what was going on with Kai.

Kai had not called him back on Saturday night at the Masquerade. Thorne had been happy for him. Thrilled, actually. He thought it meant that Kai was perhaps spending some quality time with his new lady friend, Cinderella. Thorne had given him until Sunday afternoon until he had called, merely out of sheer curiosity, to hear how it went. Kai never had any interesting stories about women, so it was about time to get some details. But Kai hadn't responded. He hadn't responded to Thorne's texts either. Thorne had shrugged it off and gone about his day.

When he still hadn't heard anything by Monday afternoon, he'd called Nainsi. She had assured him that Kai had indeed gone to work but seemed "different" than usual. She hadn't elaborated. And yet when he'd asked to be connected, she'd said that he wasn't accepting any calls today. So here he was, driving to the epitome of pretentiousness, possibly to stage an intervention. Because Kai was probably heart broken. Why else wouldn't he have called? The guy wore his heart on his sleeve.

Thorne had long since gotten his security clearance from Huy Deshal. That man was a beast. It'd taken Kai several months to convince him that despite Thorne's somewhat troubled past, he should be able to have his own access badge to get in and out when he pleased. Thorne was certain that Kai had probably just been sick of constantly having to answer the secretary's calls of "can he come upstairs?" since back then he would visit Kai more often so they could get lunch together or go out after work. That was before Kai started working like a maniac.

He exited the elevator and immediately felt some dejection wash over him. He hadn't wanted to be right about Kai being heart broken. Thorne could see the dark blinds to his office drawn down all the way from across the room. He mentally told himself to be patient and sensitive—two traits that did not come so easy to him—and strode over to Kai's door. He didn't even bother knocking.

Kai barely looked up when Thorne entered. He was slumped at his desk, looking like a total mess. His hair clearly hadn't been washed, his clothes looked unusually rumply, and his tie wasn't even properly tied. Needless to say, Thorne was not used to seeing him so disheveled. He sat himself on the side of Kai's desk and stared down at him.

"You didn't return my calls."

"We're not dating."

"Ouch. And to think I thought you were my one true love."

Kai didn't reply. He only hunched over and put his head into his arms on the desk.

Thorne surveyed the room. "I guess if you're taking a nap, you must be all ready for your trip to Beijing."

Kai groaned. "Oh stars! Is that today?"

Thorne shrugged. "How should I know? Don't you have a ticket?"

Kai sat up and looked panicked. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. Movement. This was good, Thorne observed.

"Nainsi? When is the annual summit?" Pause. "Wednesday? So do I leave tomorrow? Okay…thanks."

He hung up and looked at Thorne. "I don't leave until tomorrow morning."

"Great. Plenty of time to mope some more."

Kai looked up in desperation, which was a look that Thorne hadn't been expecting. "It's Cinder, Thorne. It's Cinder."

"What's Cinder?"

"Cinderella! The girl at the Masquerade! It was _her_."

Thorne whistled. "Whoa, girl cleans up well." He hadn't expected that. "What's the problem, then? I know you like her."

"You know?"

"Do I look like an idiot?"

Kai raked his hand through his hair exasperatedly. "I knew it was her from the beginning. Because I saw her eyes, and I'd been thinking about her, and she talked like her, and I just _knew."_

"And?"

"And then we kissed." Kai looked down. "A lot."

Thorne whistled again. "There you go, buddy! I'm so proud of you."

"_No, Thorne, just listen_." Kai's voice had become raspy and desperate.

"She kept insisting she was someone named Selene, but after we kissed I told her I was so glad it was her."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I told her that I knew she was Cinder and that I liked her and wanted to get to know her better and…" he trailed off, a look of agony caming over his face. "She left, Thorne," he whispered. "She just left me there."

"Did you go after her? Girls like being chased, you know."

"Of course I did. I tried to get her to give me her number and she just kept saying I had the wrong person and she was Selene and she bolted."

Thorne whipped out his phone and texted Iko.

"What are you doing?" asked Kai, horrified.

"Finding out if Cinder has an evil but equally pretty twin named Selene."

After a few moments, a text message came back from Iko: "No, why?"

He shut his phone. "Well, that settles that."

"Thorne, what should I do? The more I danced with her, the more I knew it was her. I need to know what's going on. I'm going insane."

Thorne scratched his cheek. "Maybe she just wanted to be a mystery that night. I met a pretty weird girl myself. She was cute but probably a whole lot of crazy when I stop to think about it."

"Cinder's not crazy."

"Kai, you barely know her. I barely know her. If it really was her, then she bolted for a reason."

"Give me her number," he said, holding out his hand to Thorne.

Thorne clutched his cell protectively. "No."

"Help me out."

"I _am_ helping you out. I'm helping to protect you from yourself. You are not going to call or text _anyone _in this condition." He gestured at Kai's unruly appearance. "You're going to come off either as a desperate stalker, or a depressed stalker."

"No I wouldn't."

"Let's pretend this _is_ Cinder. What excuse would you give for having her number?"

"I can pretend my car is broken."

Thorne tried to hide his condescending laugh. "No. Not happening. Go to your conference in Beijing, and when you get back see what's going on."

"The VIP list says she signed in, though."

"See, you're still a stalker. You're going to Beijing and you're _not _going to call her."

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, Thorne was finally making his way out of Kai's office. He'd convinced him to go to Beijing, with the understanding that <em>Thorne <em>would stop by the garage sometime this week to try to get a feel for the situation. He felt like he was back in high school again. The conversation with Kai had gone in so many circles that Thorne wasn't convinced at all anymore whether it really was Cinder or not. Kai was one hundred percent sure. Poor guy.

He entered the elevator a few moments later and watched the light tick its way down the floors slowly. With all of Rikan Corp's investments in Asia, he'd been hoping for a long time that this would lead to them getting a super high-speed elevator like the Taipei 101 had in Taiwan. _That_ would certainly make these trips more amusing. The light stopped at the twenty-first floor and the doors opened to a blonde chick in a professional-looking dress who stood there expectantly. She hesitated when she saw Thorne. He put his hand out to stop the door from shutting again.

"Coming?" He gave her a dazzling smile. She only gave him a tight-lipped lift of the corner of her mouth, and then glanced around the elevator suspiciously. He stared at her a little, hoping that she would hurry up so he could get out of here. She had a cute face, though, framed by cropped blonde hair that went just past her ears. It wasn't hurting his eyes at all to look at her. She finally entered, and he saw that despite the work clothes, she toted a rather shabby looking backpack. It looked like it would swallow her as she walked past him to the corner. There was no way she was more than five feet tall.

He released his hand from the door and moved towards the buttons. "Lobby?"

She nodded politely and then turned her face away from him, as if she could hide away in the corner. Okay then. He could take a hint.

Thorne turned back to watch the light tick down the floors. But after only one floor (twenty) went by, the blinking light disappeared and the elevator shook. The girl let out a cry of surprise as Thorne's hand reached out instinctively to balance himself against the wall. The elevator shuddered, made a strange noise, and stopped. Thorne pressed the arrows to open the door, but nothing happened. The girl in the corner began to breathe hard, sounding as if she were almost panting. He turned to look at her, and saw that she had shrunk down to the ground, panic etched all over her face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Clau—claustrophobic," she gasped, clutching her stomach and looking down.

"Oh. Well don't worry, it's nothing to be afraid of. Probably just a brief malfunction." He pressed the emergency button on the elevator. It didn't do anything.

"Hmm…" he said, pressing the button a few more times. Then he held it for a count of ten seconds before he let it go, but nothing happened. He tried pulsating the button intermittently. Again nothing.

Thorne cleared his throat. "Well, just because we don't see anything on our end doesn't mean there isn't a signal that went off on the other side of this button. Besides, you can't really expect someone to just be sitting and waiting for the button to flash." He stared at the panel. "Yeah, it probably just sends a signal straight to the fire department."

He turned to look at the girl again, who was no longer breathing so hard, but looked rather pale. He tried to lighten the mood. "Besides, the people who work in this building are definitely not going to want to take twenty flights of stairs to get up or down."

She finally looked up. "_I_ work here. I'd gladly take the stairs right now."

"Well, you're unique. The others will probably get their lawyers to make sure the elevator is functioning properly immediately."

The girl just moved her eyes around, surveying the walls of the elevator.

"Clearly you need a distraction. Let me help you." He extended his hand. "I'm Thorne."

She didn't take his hand. "Cress."

"Cress. That's an interesting name. Is it a nickname?"

"Does it matter?"

"Only if you want it to."

She didn't respond. It was kind of annoying. He slid into the other corner of the elevator, which in reality was only a few feet away from her. He was worried that if he got any closer, she might break out into a full blown panic attack due to her supposed claustrophobia. He loosened a button on the collar of his shirt. This could be awhile. After a few more minutes, though, he refused to sit quietly. Thorne was a big talker, and he couldn't imagine spending time waiting in a broken elevator silently.

"So, Cress, what kind of work do you do here?"

"I'm the Internet Security Specialist."

"What's that entail?"

"Basically I prevent people from hacking into our system."

Aha. A cyber nerd. Definitely useful in this day and age. He liked her more already. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, if you work with codes and such, you've probably got this elevator all figured out then, right? What frequency it's on, or whatever."

She rolled her eyes. Thorne couldn't help feeling that something about her looked vaguely familiar as she did. "Elevators don't run on frequencies. And no, even if it did, this is only my first day. I haven't figured everything out yet."

"That's a tough end to a first day," he commented.

She nodded, and a flicker of stress came across her face. "Which department are you in?"

"Oh, I don't work here." He laughed at the thought. Cress looked at him blankly. "I'm just visiting a friend...Kai. Maybe you've heard of him?"

Her eyes widened. "You mean..._the _Kai?"

He laughed again. "_The_ Kai? What, is he the topic of all the office gossip?" Thorne pretended to swoon.

She blushed. "No, not really...I mean, I don't know. I haven't met anyone to gossip with yet, really. I just meant, he interviewed me for the job."

"He did? That's interesting. Kai doesn't usually handle personnel interviews."

"I—I think I was a special case." Cress blushed again, turning a darker shade of crimson. It made her cuter, he decided.

"Well, lucky you. He's the son of the boss. And sooner or later, he'll be the boss."

"Oh!" she said suddenly, whipping her backpack around so it sat in front of her. She reached in and grabbed a cell phone and opened it excitedly. Then her face fell, dejectedly. "Nevermind...there's no reception."

He shrugged against the wall and lifted one knee so he could rest his elbow on it. "Happens a lot in elevators."

Cress looked positively defeated. He thought it better not to acknowledge her fear anymore.

"So, are we going to sit here and talk about Kai all day or are you going to tell me something about yourself?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, anything. Time will go faster if we talk a bit, don't you think?"

She considered it. "I guess."

"Do you spend your evenings on the internet like you do at work or do you have other interests?"

"I like watching movies."

"What kind of movies?" he prompted.

"Disney. Fairy tales, fairy tale retellings, that sort of thing."

At this rate, she was probably obsessed with Rom-Coms too. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"Why are you still watching those movies?"

She bristled. "Because nothing bad happens in them."

He looked at her incredulously. "What? Every Disney character has, like, the worst life ever until the very end. And don't get me started on fairy tales. Look at the Grimm brothers. Everyone dies, basically. Yeah, that's a good summary."

"I _don't_ read those," she said snippily. "The point is, _in the end _everyone is okay. They give me hope. That everything will be okay."

He snorted. "Maybe you need to put your hope in something else."

"They're _romantic_. You probably know nothing about that."

"Yeah, romantic with a side of delusions."

She was glaring at him now.

"Not that it's any of your business," he added, "but I am _plenty_ romantic thank you very much."

She opened her mouth to respond, but at that exact moment the lights began to flicker. Instead of yelling at him like he thought she would, she stood up abruptly. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no," she said frantically.

"Hey," he said, feeling the need to stand up too for some reason. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders to try to calm her. A part of him thought she would slap him away, but she was frozen in place and shaking all over. "It's going to be—"

The elevator went pitch black.

"—fine."

His words were lost though, because the girl let out a terrifying scream.

He groaned. This had to be a joke. Of all the cute girls that he could be lucky enough to be trapped in a dark elevator with, he had to get the one damsel in distress. How was it possible that he was—for the second time in just two days—stuck taking care of someone who was likely to go comatose on him? This week was definitely not turning out to be lucky.


	9. Chapter 9

Much to his dismay, Thorne's usual confidence was dwindling with every passing second spent in the dark elevator. He didn't understand what could possibly be taking the fire department so long. According to their cell phones, it'd been about twenty-three minutes since the elevator's lights had gone out. If he counted the total time they'd spent in the elevator without moving, they were nearing forty-five minutes.

They'd tried banging on the door. They'd tried yelling (Cress screaming) as loud as possible. They'd tried texting all their contacts in case their phones should finally get service. Thorne had even tried jumping up to reach the ceiling. There was always that hatch at the top where spies in movies could escape out of, right?

Apparently not.

Cress had stopped crying, at least. He wasn't quite sure what he could do to help her feel better, since he didn't know anything about phobias, really. He didn't want to be here any more than she did. Even though he was slowly getting used to the dark, the blackness still seemed to swallow them in the small space. He wasn't used to feeling helpless. And he certainly wasn't used to feeling uncomfortable in the presence of a woman. Sitting here with her, though, he realized how accustomed he was to reading people. Cress's mannerisms were a complete mystery to him. Though they'd begun to make small talk again, he hated not being able to see her facial expressions or body language. She was shy with him, and wanted to understand why. He wondered if it was because she was like that normally or if it was due to her claustrophobia. Maybe she was just freaked out at being stuck in an elevator with a guy she didn't know. He'd taken his hands off her shoulders almost immediately after the lights had gone out, so he hoped it wasn't the latter.

"I'm cold," she said after taking another one of her shaky breaths. He heard rustling.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get my scarf out of my bag. Can you hold up my phone so I can find it?"

He saw a light shine from the corner in which she was sitting and moved over, eager to have something to do. "Sure."

Thorne grabbed her phone and tried to angle it for the best view. Earlier on they'd decided to put their phones away, despite the little light they provided, in order to conserve the battery. They didn't really know what they were conserving it for, but they both agreed it was better this way.

She rummaged through the big backpack he had noticed earlier. "Whatcha got in there?" he asked curiously, trying not show his surprise at how jam-packed the thing really was.

She sighed. "My life."

After a minute, she took the cell phone from him and tried to hold it deeper in the bag. "I'm not finding it," she said. "I could've sworn..."

She turned over her bag and began to dump its contents all over the elevator floor.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked. "If you've got something small, it could roll away and get lost in here."

"Good thing we'll have plenty of time to find it," she remarked.

"That's the spirit."

"Shoot," she said emphatically, "it must be in the lobby with my coat."

"I'd offer you mine, but obviously I don't have one either. Or a coat, for that matter."

"It'll be fine," Cress replied, and she was already starting to stuff things back in her bag. "Help me, will you?"

He crouched near the ground, his own phone in hand now, and grabbed what he could. She _did _in fact have a lot of little things that could get lost in the dark. Lipstick. Multiple USB sticks. Pens. A compact mirror. Batteries. A little button pin that said _And they lived happily ever after_. The two i's were dotted with hearts. He almost laughed out loud.

He saw a crumpled piece of paper, and held it out to her under the dim light. "This garbage?"

She took it from him and sat back on her knees, then unrolled it. "Oh, this. I'm not sure."

Thorne finished putting the smaller items in her backpack as she studied her little paper. He turned the light off on his phone and put it back in his pocket.

"Can I ask you something?" she said hesitantly.

"Sure."

"It's kind of personal."

Thorne grinned in the dark. "Good. Those are the best kinds of questions in these types of situations."

"What kind of situation do you mean?"

She really was a little socially awkward, he decided. "The type of situation where you're stuck in an elevator with a complete stranger in the dark and need to pass the time, of course."

"Oh, right."

"Well, I met this guy—"

Thorne sat up. "Oh! _This_ type of personal question. Do tell." Maybe he could finally help her out with something.

"Well," she continued, "I _sort of _met this guy. Kind of. It's complicated. But he told me to call him and I'm not sure if I should."

"Wait," said Thorne, "why do you have to call him? Why can't he call you?"

"He doesn't have my number."

"Why not?"

"I—it's just complicated."

"Is his number on that little note then?"

"Yeah, plus I have something of his."

"His broken heart?" Thorne joked.

"No, he left his coat behind. Thing is, I'm not sure if he actually wants to see me, or just wants to have his coat back. I—here," she said, thrusting the note at him along with her cell phone. "Ignore the Tangled reference."

"Tangled?" he asked quizzically, though his eyes were already scanning the handwriting. Familiar handwriting.

_Rapunzel, this coat belongs to your thief. Please call me so I can get it back._

"Tangled," she clarified, but Thorne's brain was not really processing her words. "It's a Disney movie? Oh right...you don't like Disney."

Thorne swallowed hard and let out a shallow breath. He might have have laughed if he weren't so caught off guard. The timid girl sitting next to him was the sexy, flirty, drunk Rapunzel that he'd danced with at the Masquerade. What in the name of spades was going on? He tried to process this new information, this development. Rolled it around on the tip of his tongue. He saw disco lights flash before him and a blur of hair.

"Yeah," she said quietly, and he realized that he hadn't responded to her. "I didn't—I mean—I figured it was probably just about the coat, right?" He could tell she was embarrassed. Maybe also a little disappointed too?

Thone realized that he was actually offended that she was even considering not calling him. After everything he'd done for her.

"Oh no, _Rapunzel_, I'm sure your thief can't _wait_ to see you again."

There was a brief pause. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Moi? Never. I'm just wondering if you got a haircut since Saturday."

Silence.

"I—what—I don't know what you mean..." she stuttered.

He prowled over to her corner with purpose and turned the light towards her face. Rapunzel—Cress—squinted at the sudden intrusion. Thorne examined her.

"I didn't recognize you without your extensions."

"My..." He was now only a few inches away from her face as her lips formed into an O. The lips that had enticed him just a few nights ago.

Thorne stared her down. "I can't believe you were actually thinking of not calling me."

She snatched her phone away from him and tucked it into her pocket. He reached for his own right away and switched it on, unable to take his eyes off of her. She turned away.

"I just need a few moments to process this." Her voice didn't sound as timid as it had a few moments ago. It was still nothing, _nothing_ like her Rapunzel attitude though.

"You're not the only one."

"I don't remember everything from that night," she said quietly after an almost uncomfortable silence.

"I'm happy to refresh your memory, Rapunzel."

Her eyes shifted back into the light. When he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, an indignant glare came over her. "No, _thank you_."

He tried to be serious. "Look, I'm all about having a good time, but you really shouldn't drink that much. I mean, I had to wake you up _with an ice cube._ You could have ended up dead in an alley somewhere."

Her eyes grew wide, but then narrowed. He faltered for a minute. "I don't mean because of me, obviously. I helped you out."

She crossed her arms defiantly. "You know nothing about me."

"I know you have crazy hair extensions and I know I turn you on."

"_Please_, I was drunk."

"You couldn't keep your hands off me."

"Don't flatter yourself."

He scoffed. "At least I don't pretend to be someone I'm not."

"Not that it's any of your business—" she started, but he cut her off.

"Oh, but it is _so_ my business, Rapunzel. Because I'm the one who spent half my evening cavorting with you and then trying to get you home safe!"

She just shrugged. "Sometimes I like pretending to have a different personality. I like the idea of Rapunzel. We actually have a lot in common."

"Pretending to have a different personality while you are wasted like that is really naïve and frankly kind of dangerous. You can get yourself in a lot of trouble that way. People could take advantage of you." He didn't know why he was acting so protective. Probably because she'd been such a hassle on Saturday night.

"People like you?"

"No," he said defensively, "I would never do that."

"So, we didn't, um—I mean—I don't remember—I just wanted to make sure."

Thorne put down the phone. His arm was growing tired from holding it up anyway, and he didn't want to look at her mortified face.

"Like I said, I would never do that."

"Thanks." Her voice sounded smaller now. "I'm sorry it got so out of hand. That's never happened to me before. I was required to go the party since I had just signed on with Rikan Corp. I just wanted to have some fun. I remember someone approaching me at the bar and he bought me a few drinks. Too many it seems."

Thorne groaned into the darkness. How had this girl survived college without getting rufied?

"Then I wanted to dance, and you were a really good dancer. And it was nice to get out of my head for awhile. Haven't you ever wanted to just forget everything?"

"Passing out will help you forget everything," he commented.

"Look, part of it was the alcohol, but part of it wasn't. Like I said, sometimes I just like to act out my fantasies."

"I _am_ rather interested in hearing more about these fantasies. Although, preferably ones that don't involve so much hair."

"You're gross," she said, her voice no longer quiet nor contemplative.

"That's definitely not what you were saying at the Masquerade."

"I don't mean _those _kinds of fantasies," she muttered mutinously.

"Do enlighten me then on how trying to seduce a guy while dressed as Rapunzel is some other kind of fantasy."

She sighed and then spoke as though she were speaking to a little child. "I can't believe I'm actually telling you this, but I guess since you helped me get home...fine. I had a bit of a rough childhood, and back then my imagination helped me. When things got bad I would call up different fantasies to help me get through things. I would just live in them until it got better. Now that I'm older, I do a better job of separating my imagination from reality. Sometimes, though, instead of just imagining something, I like to actually pretend that I'm someone in a different situation. Like I said earlier. _Pretending_. Maybe it's the thrill. I don't know. Maybe it's just the fact that I can actually go out and _do_ whatever I want. _Be_ whoever I want."

"And obviously, the alcohol helped."

"My therapist writes it off as me acting out after years of internalizing my problems."

"You're in therapy?"

"Yeah. Long story. Anyway, I love Rapunzel. I told you, I really identify with her. So yeah, a part of it was probably the alcohol talking, but I liked pretending that I was her. You just sort of became part of that pretend. And it was a _Masquerade_. Isn't that what people do at those functions? Hide their identities?"

Thorne ran his hand through his hair. He thought about Cinder and Kai and all the people in masks. Maybe she had a point. He had liked the idea of pretending to be Rapunzel and the thief while they were dancing, even if he had known that neither of them were either in reality. "But you were really hott. Like, super hott. And—I thought—into me."

"I—"

Her voice hitched as the overhead lights flickered. They heard commotion below them. Voices. Cress's face lit up like the sun. "Are we saved?"

He chuckled, though a part of him was unnerved by the abrupt end to their conversation. "I believe we are saved."

The elevator began to descend. Two floors later, the doors finally opened. Cress practically fell into the arms of a fireman as he asked if the two of them had sustained any injuries. Thorne picked up her backpack and walked out behind her. There was a small crowd waiting for them, mostly made of firemen, maintenance workers, and a few receptionists. He spotted Kai, who looked relieved to see him. Thorne was relieved to see that Kai did not look like he was moping anymore.

"I figured you were in there after my calls kept going to voicemail. The Rampion's obviously still in the garage."

"What happened?" asked Thorne.

"Blackout. It was all over the city, so it took awhile for them to make it here. The fire department blames all the snow weighing down on the power lines."

"Get your dad to invest in some generators, Kai. That was bullshit. I was stuck in there with one of your female employees."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining about being trapped in an elevator with a woman? Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Thorne flexed his back in an attempt to stretch out the kinks that had formed from sitting on the floor for so long. "I'm not complaining about the company. Just the situation."

"Who else was in there?"

"Cress. Forgot her job title. She protects you from hackers."

"Ah, she's new."

"I know. I'm gonna catch up with her later."

He saw an unmistakable look of worry cloud Kai's face.

"What?"

"You're going out with her? Isn't it a bit...soon?"

"Relative to what?"

"You just asked out Cinder last week." _Yeah, for you, _thought Thorne.

"Relax, Kai, it's all good fun."

"That's not what I mean. What do you really know about her?" Kai insisted.

"Actually, more than you'd think." Thorne's lips were twitching.

"Just be careful with her."

"Are you implying that you think I'm a douchebag?"

"_No_," said Kai. "Listen, I shouldn't be saying any of this, but you're my best friend so just—just keep this to yourself."

Thorne nodded and put on a serious face to humor Kai.

"I had to interview her because, well, she has a bit of a shady past."

"Kai, _I_ have a shady past."

"This is different. I just—" he scratched behind his ear, which Thorne had come to recognize as something he did when he felt nervous or uncomfortable. "I don't think it's a good idea to get mixed up with her. I can't really say more. Pick—pick someone else."

"Well thanks for your concern, but I'm a big boy. I can handle it. Besides, I never said anything about dating her. I just have a score I need to settle with an alter ego."

"I don't even want to know what that means," said Kai, frowning.

"It doesn't matter. Thanks for the tip, though. I'll catch up with you in a few, okay?"

Thorne left Kai and looked around for Cress. He almost thought to look for her unruly hair, but then remembered that she really had short hair. This double identity thing was really going to mess with his mind. He spotted her near the stairwell. She hadn't been kidding about wanting to take those twenty flights of stairs after all.

"Hey Cress!" he called after her. She paused.

"You better call me. I still want my coat back."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Thanks for all the positive feedback. I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! I'm of course going to reveal more background information as the story progresses. That being said, the characters are going to act a bit more OC than others - particularly the characters who didn't get a chance to meet each other already in their teenage years. In canon, if Cress hadn't been saved from her satellite at age 16 and met the gang, her path and outlook on life could have turned out very differently. Same goes for Kai—he's 26, and is only _just_ meeting Cinder now. Poor babies. Speaking of, not to worry! We're going to find out what happened with Kai and Cinder, and Kai's POV will be back later too.

* * *

><p><em>Alec's Lucky Garage<em> always made Thorne feel giddy. He loved bringing The Rampion there and being able to shower her with the special attention only they knew how to provide. Though she wasn't the fanciest thing imaginable, he was proud that she was probably one of the most well maintained cars around. As the name of the garage suggested, he'd been quite lucky to meet Alec early in his ownership of The Rampion. Now there was no one else he'd trust to spoil his baby.

Alec, a portly middle-aged man who was beginning to bald, looked up from his paper when he saw Thorne waltz in. "Coffee, Thorne? You shouldn't have."

Thorne handed him one of the drinks from his coffee carrier. It was important to manage relationships, and often a little goodwill was all it took to win someone over. Generous tipping helped too, obviously. Thorne lifted his own cup and tipped it respectfully towards Alec before taking a sip, and then leaned against the counter. "Afternoon, Alec."

"Who's the third drink for?"

"Ah, that one there is for a special lady friend. Maybe you've seen her around—brown hair, brown eyes, fixes cars?"

Alec nodded knowingly. "She's in the back. You're not thinking about breaking the heart of my most popular new employee now, are you?"

"Not today. Need a favor for a friend. What do you know about her?"

Alec folded his newspaper and considered him. "Not too much. Always punctual, and probably works more overtime than she should. Seems like she might need the extra cash. She mostly keeps to herself, though she definitely holds her own with the other guys in the back."

"She got a boyfriend?"

"Don't you think you should have found that out before you asked her out the other week?"

Thorne sipped his coffee thoughtfully. "Interesting that she told you that."

"She didn't. One of the guys heard you flirting with her. You're not very discrete when you're trying to make a move, you know."

"Ha. He must have misheard. Cinder and I are just friends."

"Well, if you're friends, why don't you just ask her yourself?"

"Indeed. Any chance you could give her a break for a few minutes?"

Alec pursed his lips for a minute, but then went to open the door to the back. "Cinder!" he hollered. "Get out here!"

Cinder appeared after a bit, wrench in hand. "Yes, Sir?"

"You've got a visitor." Alec pointed to Thorne, who smiled at her.

Cinder scratched the glove of her hand with her wrench. "I've got a lot to finish up."

"Thorne's a preferred customer. Take a break."

Cinder set the wrench on the counter as Alec returned to his newspaper. "Okay," she said, putting her hands in her back pockets. "What's up, Thorne?"

"Just wanted to talk to my favorite mechanic. I brought you some coffee too." He gestured at the remaining cup in his carrier.

"Oh." She looked down at her feet. "I thought we both made it clear that we'd just be friends."

Thorne heard Alec cover up a laugh with an abrupt cough behind his newspaper.

"Haven't changed my mind about that," said Thorne. "Can you join me in my car for a few minutes? I wanted to talk you about something and it feels a little crowded in here."

"Uhh…I guess."

They exited the shop and climbed into the Rampion. She sat a bit uncertainly, her legs crossed away from him. He was a little worried she would get grease on his leather interior, but decided for the sake of this conversation not to bring it up. She took the coffee gratefully, though, and he let her sip it a minute before getting right down to business.

"You have fun at the Masquerade?"

She shrugged. "It was interesting."

"I had an interesting night myself. But I'm not really here to make small talk, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. You like Kai, don't you?"

She looked startled at the question, but her face flushed almost immediately. He gave her credit for trying to maintain eye contact. "No."

"Aw, honey, a blush like that is gonna give you away every time."

"Thorne…I barely know Kai. I barely know _you_. This isn't really something I want to talk to you about."

"Humor me for a few minutes. I'm not here to embarrass you."

She opened her mouth to protest again, but he held up his hand to silence her. "So what's your deal? You one of those girls who likes to play hard to get? 'Cuz I can respect that. The chase can be fun."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"_Please_, I saw you two making googly eyes at each other in my kitchen."

Cinder begin fiddling with her gloves.

"Cinder, Kai's a great guy. I saw the way he lit up when he was around you, even if it was only briefly. And whether you're going to admit it or not, you've obviously got a little crush on him, too. But he's had a rough go at it the last few years. So don't jerk him around. If you like him at all, then call him. The last thing he needs is someone messing around with his emotions."

Thorne had strategically decided that it wasn't worth his time to try to push the whole Cinderella-Selene Masquerade mystery. If it was her on Saturday, he figured that his little speech would cover that aspect of leading Kai on too. Cinder was still sitting there quietly, not meeting his gaze. He'd said what he needed to say, so he reached across her to push open the door for her.

"You should probably get back before Alec removes me from preferred customer status."

"Right."

Cinder got out of the car and shut the door behind her without saying goodbye. He switched on the engine and put the car in reverse. He was about to drive back when he heard a quick rasp on his window. Thorne braked and rolled down the window for Cinder, who was leaning into the opening.

"Hey Thorne?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Kai really light up?"

Thorne grinned broadly. "Like a full moon."

* * *

><p>When Thorne got an unknown call on his cell phone that Thursday, he hoped that it was Cress finally getting in touch. He was getting antsy about not having his favorite coat and was considering stopping by her department to bug her about it if she didn't call in the near future.<p>

"Hello?"

"Is, um, Thorne there?"

"This is Thorne."

"Hi. This is Cress. The girl…from the elevator?"

"Oh I remember who you are."

"Right."

"You finally gonna give me my coat back?"

"Yes—of course," she said quickly. "About that—I wanted to apologize. I've been thinking about our conversation in the elevator and what happened at the Masquerade, and I feel really bad about it."

"Don't feel bad. Life is too short to feel bad."

"I never got the chance to thank you either."

"For what, my great dance skills?"

She remained serious. "No, for helping me when I passed out and for making sure I got home safely. That was…extremely kind of you."

"Don't worry about it."

"Well, I do, and I want to repay you."

Oh? "Yeah?"

"You probably think I'm crazy by now, so I'm not offended if you say no, but would you want to come over for dinner sometime? I could cook something for you as a thank you. It's not much, but I think guys like food right?"

"We always like food."

"Oh, great."

Her voice sounded relieved and Thorne wanted to laugh. Dinner with Cress as a 'thank you'? She wasn't very good at being subtle. Apparently she hadn't forgotten how good of a kisser he was. He couldn't blame her; he'd gotten many compliments over the years.

"When would be good for you?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"I really want my coat."

She laughed nervously. "Well, I guess that would be okay. I don't have any plans."

"Great. What time?"

"Maybe around 6:30? It takes me a little while to get home on the bus."

"Alright, where do you live?"

He punched the address she gave him into google maps. "I have to pass Rikan Corp anyway to get there. Want me to pick you up so you don't have to take the bus?"

"Really?"

"Sure."


	11. Chapter 11

"It's literally _freezing_ in this aisle," Thorne complained. "It's just milk, honestly Cress." She was taking an awful long time deciding between three different brands.

"There are just so many," she sighed happily.

Thorne reached into the freezer. "Take this one. It's organic, fair-trade, non-GMO, and all that jazz. Plus, it's 2% so you can't make the case that it has too much fat, nor too little fat replaced by too much sugar."

She stared at him in bewilderment.

"What?" he said, shoving the milk into her cart and urging her along to the next aisle. "I've watched a lot of food documentaries."

Thorne hadn't realized that when he'd offered to swing by Rikan Corp to pick her up, he'd offered to take her grocery shopping as well. Cress had insisted that the short notice she'd received from him about dinner didn't allow her enough time to adequately plan out a meal, so he'd caved against his better judgment. He certainly hadn't expected to end up in the grocery store for almost an hour. Cress had been transfixed by the international food aisle that this particular store had, and they'd gotten stuck there for far too long. The whole thing felt _way_ too domestic for his comfort zone.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at her place, Thorne was surprised to see that she had a townhouse all to herself. For some reason, he'd expected a small apartment with at least a roommate or two. The driveway even merged with a little path that led to a decently-sized backyard. The most impressive part of the townhouse, though, was that giant window panes were installed where one would normally have walls. Once inside, he stared at the frozen-over creek in her backyard, feeling as though he could walk right through the air to reach it. Most of the snow from the storm had melted by now, but a light dusting still remained.<p>

"No curtains?" he asked.

"I have curtains in my bedroom, but that's it."

"But you have no privacy in the rest of the house from your neighbors."

She shrugged. "Claustrophobia, remember?"

He did remember. It was hard to forget their time trapped in the elevator and all of her crying. Still, he did think it a bit odd that someone would go out of their way so much just to avoid smaller spaces. Then again, he obviously hadn't bothered to research the topic, so he let it go.

"So...what are you making?"

Cress placed two of her bags in front of the fridge and bent down to pick out what she needed. "Chicken French. Well, a variation of it."

Thorne's mouth watered. "Excellent choice. How much sherry do you use in your version?"

She stopped unpacking the grocery bags. "Wait, you can cook?"

"Of course I can cook," he bragged. "Is there anything more attractive than a man who knows how to cook? If there is, tell me, because I need that information."

Cress seemed to be thinking it over. "I'm not really sure," she said. "I've never really thought about it."

"It was sort of a rhetorical question." Thorne studied her for a moment and then decided to lean against the small island in the middle of her kitchen. It was granite. Another detail he hadn't been expecting. "Anyway, I'm nowhere near as good as Scarlet—she's one of my friends—but I know enough dishes to impress the ladies."

"Interesting," she said, though she didn't look that interested at all, really, and went back to unloading the groceries. "I kind of thought you'd have servants to cook for you."

"Uhh, servants? No, absolutely not."

"But you're friends with Kai," she continued. "I figured you'd be really rich too."

"Ah, you're after my money."

Cress looked flustered. "No!"

"I was just kidding, Cress. I grew up wealthy like Kai—maybe not _as_ wealthy—but I choose to live more modestly now. I can tell you more about that some other time."

"Okay," she replied. "Well since you know how to cook then, we can put you to work. Why don't you start by making the egg and breadcrumb mixture?"

* * *

><p>Dinner went rather smoothly. Besides being a good cook, Cress was shaping up to be a lot more stable than he'd perceived her to be in the elevator. She remained a bit reserved, yet had enough to say to keep his interest. It was obvious that she was shy around him, but with a little encouragement she seemed to come out of her shell just a bit. Cress laughed at his jokes, which was a definite plus. She had a warm, youthful, and almost naïve disposition that was kind of refreshing. She wasn't particularly flirty though, which was different from what he'd expected.<p>

Then again, he hadn't really known what to expect when he'd accepted her invitation to come over. Besides, of course, that she was attracted to him. Naturally. Still, he continued having difficulty reading her, despite that the fact that he was no longer blinded by the darkness in the elevator. Thorne wasn't as convinced after dinner that she was as into him as he'd imagined. Not that he needed her to be. But he'd rather enjoyed kissing her at the Masquerade, and he wouldn't mind a Round Two, particularly if it didn't involve her passing out halfway through. So when Cress asked if he'd like to stay and watch a movie, he was more than happy to say yes. In his experience, "watching a movie" was code for making out on the couch.

"I think we should watch Tangled, so you can see why I like Rapunzel."

Interesting. Maybe this was her thing. Maybe she just needed a little bit of that fairy tale to get her going.

"Sure," he replied.

"You don't mind? I know we already talked about Disney and all that, but it really is a good movie. My favorite."

"How bad can it be?" he asked.

She brightened. "Great! The movie is under the DVD player, so if you don't mind setting it up, I'll make the popcorn!"

Popcorn? Were they really gonna do this? Or did she just want to seem less desperate? Whatever. He would just go with it.

* * *

><p>Cress was so into it. <em>Unbelievably<em> into it.

The movie, that is.

She was captured by every word, acting as though she'd memorized it. She even sang along to some of the songs. It was ridiculous. Okay, it was a little cute too, but _definitely_ still ridiculous. He couldn't believe she was falling for this nonsense. Thorne watched as Flynn Rider gave up the stolen crown so he could be with Rapunzel.

"Ugh," he groaned, "he's so weak!"

Cress didn't take her eyes off the screen. "It's so romantic," she breathed.

"He had so much game and gave it up. For what?"

"For _love_," she said.

Thorne snorted. "Love? Please. They've known each other for what? A day? And look at this poor shmuck, he's been duped by that little Blondie into thinking that this is the life he wants."

Cress didn't respond. Thorne chewed on his popcorn as more so-called heartbreak and singing unfolded in front of him.

"Besides, who would want to live in a palace?" He shuddered. "And tied down like that?"

She paused the film and looked at him as though he'd murdered a puppy. "Are you joking? Who would turn down all those riches?"

"Cress, wealth isn't everything. Some wealth, good. A lot of wealth, bad. Just look at Kai. No, wait," he amended, "actually, don't. I probably shouldn't talk about him 'cause he's your boss." That slope could get slippery really quickly. Kai didn't need other people knowing about his drama.

"What exactly do you do for a living then, so you don't have to worry about money?"

"I'm in the stock market business." Thorne tossed a piece of popcorn in the air and caught it in his mouth.

"You work for a trading company?"

"I work for myself."

"You're a consultant."

"No."

"So you don't have a job, is what you're saying."

"Who needs a job if you can make money without actually working?"

Cress turned around in the couch and pulled her legs up so her whole body faced him. Then she leaned in as if she could better understand him if she were closer.

"Yes...?" he asked.

"I don't get it."

"I invest and I take a lot of risks. Calculated risks, of course, but I've studied the market since I was in high school and I daresay I've figured out quite a few tricks. My risks usually pay off. I'm quite talented."

"I always thought the stock market was a bit like gambling."

"You're not far off," said Thorne, impressed by her observation. "I was really into gambling when I was younger, mostly in college. I love the thrill of it but it comes with a world of trouble. Not that I don't still enjoy the occasional trip to Vegas now and then, but I like to think of what I do now as..._positive_ gambling."

She tensed. "Is it legal?"

He threw a piece of popcorn at her. "_Yes_. I'm not in college anymore, Cress. I definitely dabbled in a lot of illegal stuff back then, but I've moved on from that. Turned my life around and blah blah blah. You can't stay on that path forever."

He winked at her, and she seemed to relax a bit. "Good. I can't be hanging out with people who are involved with illegal things."

Thorne eyed her suspiciously for a moment. Kai had said she had a shady past. Surely he didn't mean that she had a criminal past, did he? Nah. There was no way Kai would hire someone like that. Someone like _him_. But Thorne didn't dare broach that subject with Cress. She probably just wanted to make sure he wasn't dangerous.

"Come on," he said, scooting closer to her. "We really need to finish this movie. I think Flynn Rider's going to have a heart attack if he doesn't make sweet, passionate love to Rapunzel sometime soon."

Cress rolled her eyes, but then turned excitedly back to the TV. Thorne rested his head back into the couch, a smirk playing on the corner of his lips.


	12. Chapter 12

**KAI**

The girl next to Kai on the plane wouldn't shut up. He was doing his best to ignore her, but the last leg of the flight seemed like an eternity. The girl had woken up from her nap sometime over the Atlantic ocean, and that was when she noticed Kai. She'd walked back from the bathroom and instead of going back to her seat across the aisle, she had gasped and flopped into the empty seat next to him. Her name was Pearl, and she was his _biggest_ fan, and she read up on the Rikan Corp family in every magazine she could get her hands on. In fact, she was convinced that she knew more about Kai than Kai knew about himself. Kai had politely responded at first, and then realized that she refused to leave. So he put on his headphones and pretended to watch a movie. Pearl then chose the same movie and began to talk to him about everything going on in said movie.

It was embarrassing.

And highly irritating. Kai made a mental note to never fly business class again. In the future, he'd cash in on his celebrity status and take advantage of a first class _private_ seat.

Kai couldn't have been happier when his plane touched down on American soil. Much like the girl next to him, Beijing had been a pain. He despised board meetings, summits, conferences, and generally anything involved with the key players of Rikan Corp. It wasn't that Kai disliked finance or business strategy per say, but rather everything else that came along with dealing with the people who were involved in his father's company. He had the feeling that the majority of people who attended the Annual Summit used it as an excuse to wine and dine in an exotic country for a week. For Kai, the stress just doubled from a normal work week. For the last two years, his father had insisted that he meet basically every person on the planet that could possibly have some sort of connection with Rikan Corp in the future. These people needed to be entertained, and apparently Kai was the perfect person to do that.

"This prepares you for all the networking and socializing you'll do when you're in my position later," his father always said. "You'll need these connections. Best if they get to know you already."

Levana had given him a massive headache during the meetings too. Not that this wasn't normal, but after their last dinner together, he'd really hoped that she would begin to see things from his perspective. He had tried hard not to show his irritation around her, but this week in Beijing had been particularly vexing; she'd only made it worse. He set a reminder in his phone to send her some of the counter-arguments he'd come up with during the flight back to the USA. Maybe there was no use in trying, though. It seemed like nothing he ever said regarding Rikan Corp would ever be taken seriously by her or her family.

When his phone registered that he was back in the United States, he got flooded with text messages. He really should have gotten an international plan a long time ago to avoid having to deal with so many messages at once, but at least it was something to do while he waited to deplane. Kai deleted most of them. Clients. Nainsi. Nainsi again. Levana. Dad. More clients.

A text from Scarlet. _Thorne told me you weren't doing so great. Come over any time you want._

"Maybe you should mind your own business, Thorne," Kai muttered to no one in particular. Maybe he'd take Scarlet up on the offer, though.

Kai saw that he had a text from Thorne too. _You get that generator yet?_

Whoops. Kai had completely forgotten about the elevator debacle while in Beijing. Maybe his Purchasing Manager could look into that. But really, how often did that sort of thing happen? Thorne had just been unlucky. The thought made Kai snicker. Thorne was always the lucky one. Surely he would manage to twist this situation to his advantage somehow too.

There was also a text from an unknown number which he quickly skimmed. _Hi, it's Cinder. Can we meet up when you get back?_

Kai did a double take and re-read the message while the dormant butterfly in Kai's stomach suddenly decided to wake up. Cinder had texted him. And she wanted to see him. He immediately typed out a response, and then deleted it just as quickly. It was too eager. Clearly that had been a problem when he'd chased after her at the Masquerade. He had to be cool, collected. His text should _not_ scream that he was the guy smiling like a fool on the tarmac.

Instead, he let it sink in: something in his life might actually be looking up. And that something was a beautiful girl that he could possibly have a chance with. Kai thought about his response carefully before typing it out. _Sounds great. Maybe sometime this week?_

To his surprise, Cinder texted him back almost immediately. _Dinner tomorrow? Come by Alec's._

Tomorrow. He would probably be over his jetlag by then. His stomach would probably be just as jumpy though. _Okay. I know just the place._

_But only if I get to pay, _Cinder replied._ And this is not a date._

His heart sank a little at the last line, but it didn't matter right now. He was just happy to be making any progress at all. _Got it. Let's just get to know each other better_.

_No expectations? _she asked.

_No expectations._

Well, maybe just one. He was going to sweep her off her feet—some way or another.

* * *

><p>Kai actually dressed down on purpose. No, he didn't wear his gray hoodie, but he did settle for a nice pair of jeans, a black dress shirt, and a little gel in his hair. Though it made him feel out of his element, he realized before going to bed yesterday that 1) he was not going to a business function and 2) he was not going on a date, so he couldn't give off that impression. He also didn't want to make Cinder feel as though she had to dress up just because he normally did. When he put on his coat, he looked just like a regular guy headed out on the town.<p>

When he pulled up to the garage, he was a mix of nerves and excitement. Kai had been waiting for this moment since practically the moment he'd met Cinder (once he finally starting admitting to himself that he liked Cinder, his intentions in the past became much clearer). At the same time, his experience with her at the Masquerade made him very apprehensive. What if whatever he'd done then to make her run away was something he couldn't fix? What if he scared her away again? What if, what if, what if…? Kai ran his fingers into his hair, forgetting that it was slightly spiked up from the gel. He double-checked himself in the mirror to make sure he was still presentable, and then went inside.

When he found Cinder, she pointed at the restroom. "Give me a moment to change?"

"Sure."

Kai glanced at the middle-aged man sitting behind the counter and nodded politely to him.

"You're Thorne's friend, right?" Alec asked.

"Yup."

"How come you never bring your car here?" he inquired.

Kai listed his head in the direction of the bathroom. "I guess I probably should start doing that, huh."

Alec grunted in agreement. Cinder came out of the bathroom, and Kai allowed himself a few moments to take her in. She'd taken off her work clothes and changed into jeans and a jacket like him. He was happy to note that his outfit fit hers—she looked normal too. Except for her brown eyes, which had infiltrated his dreams lately. She'd always stand out as long as they continued to warm up the room like that.

"You look great," he said.

"Great is kind of generic, don't you think?" she said, but she looked rather pleased at the compliment nonetheless.

"Noted. I just meant, you know, for coming off a work shift," he tried to explain.

She grinned. "No grease smudge this time. I made sure."

"I like your grease smudges," he teased.

"So, where are we going? A palace rooftop? An enchanted garden you have behind your house?

"Hmm," said Kai, not deterred by her sarcasm. "You said this wasn't a date, so I had to un-enchant the garden this time, unfortunately."

"Ha-ha."

"Actually, there's a cute little café not too far from here. They serve crepes for dinner, and after being in Beijing for a week, I could use something a little different. What do you say?"

"I still get to pay, right?"

"You get to pay for me too."

"Great."

"Do you want to walk there? I know you like walking." He pointed in the direction of the café.

She began to walk right away and Kai hurried to catch up with her. "It's not that I necessarily like walking, especially not in the winter, it's just that I'm used to it. I don't have a car, and I don't want to pay for cabs all the time, so when there's no subway or bus running at a convenient time, I walk. After awhile, you don't mind it as much. It gives me time to think."

Kai tried to think of something intelligent to reply to that, but he knew that she would probably just mock him about his life of privilege and having a private driver. She'd made it clear in their few interactions that she had a problem with it. He wanted to keep the conversation light.

"What do you think about?" Okay, maybe not as light as he would have liked.

She looked at him a little strangely. "It's not like I'm constantly thinking about the same thing."

"Most frequently, then, I guess. You said you liked to work on cars because it gets you out of your head—"

"You remember that?"

He shrugged casually. "Of course. So, what do you think about when you're 'in your head' then, so to speak?"

She stared straight ahead for awhile, as if contemplating. Kai looked down and had a strong urge to reach out and grab her hand as they walked. Their time together at the Masquerade was still fresh in his mind, and he wanted to bring her closer to him again. It was so hard to hold back now, when they'd already taken that step forward. It wasn't a date though, he reminded himself. He had to hold back, even if it was difficult. He wouldn't bring up the Masquerade for now either. He had to give her the space she needed to come around. And if he were charming and sweet and thoughtful on their non-date? Well, if he managed to do that somehow, it wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I think a lot about my life and the responsibilities I have. They're hard to forget," she finally said.

"Me too," he said, surprised at her response. "That's usually what I'm trying not to think about. It consumes me anyway."

"Oh, right," she mumbled. "I should have realized. Running a company and all that. That does sound exhausting."

"It is, but I wasn't trying to compare myself to you. I'm sorry if it came off that way. I just wanted to, relate, I guess. It's nice to know there's someone out there who feels similarly, even if it's about a different situation."

She stopped at a corner. "Which way?"

Kai pointed. "It's actually just down this street."

They reached the café in silence, and he was grateful that Cinder let him open the door for her, and even take her coat at the table. He didn't tell Cinder that he'd gotten a special table reserved due to his "status," even though the place had been booked solid when he'd called yesterday. She probably wouldn't like to know that fact.

"I haven't eaten much French food," she admitted.

"Have you had a crepe before?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, kind of. On the street a few times. There's just so many choices on this menu."

"That's why it's such a neat place to come to. You'll never want to get the same thing twice because everything is so good. Try a salty one first." He pointed at the entrée section. "Something with a meat—or not, if you're a vegetarian," he added quickly.

"I'm not," she said.

"Okay, well then try one of these. Then for dessert, we can split a sweet crepe."

She looked at him over her menu, eyebrow raised.

"With two separate spoons and plates, _obviously_," he said, making a face at her but then giving her his most dazzling smile. She suddenly looked flustered, while Kai, on the other hand, was extremely pleased with himself. He would definitely have to keep smiling all night if he could get that response out of her.

"I think about my family a lot," Cinder said when their crepes had arrived. "When I'm walking, I mean."

"Do you have a big family?"

"No," she said thoughtfully. "I don't really have family anymore, and that's something I dwell on a lot, even if I don't want to. There's a cousin that I see from time to time when she visits. My mom and I are estranged. I owe her some money though, so I do have to see her when I make payments."

"Sounds like a bad deal," Kai commented.

"Honestly, that's why I work so much."

"Do you need any help?" Kai asked.

"No!" she spluttered, "that's not what I was implying."

"Sorry," said Kai quickly. "I wasn't trying to impose. I just wanted to help."

"It's not your job to help me," she said.

"I know. I'm sorry."

There was a long, awkward silence. Kai hated himself for having made the suggestion. She was right, obviously; it was none of his business whether Cinder had money or not. And he shouldn't have offered. He just wasn't used to having money problems and couldn't stand the thought of her being in need. Her knowing that had surely lowered him down several points in her book. She probably thought he was a presumptuous snot now who threw money at everyone.

"I don't really get along that well with my family either," he said. "My dad puts an incredible amount of pressure on me to be the next CEO of Rikan Corp. He's been grooming me for this since I was a child. It might sound glamorous, but it's really not. The only thing we talk about now is the company. It's like he doesn't even realize I'm a person anymore."

"Well, as a person, what kind of things do you like doing when you're not busy at Rikan Corp?"

"I don't really do that much anymore," he admitted. "Rikan Corp has taken over my life lately. I feel like I work all the time, and when I get off work I have to go to social events for the company too. It's like it never ends."

"But you want to lead Rikan Corp."

"I've always known that I would," he said simply.

"That's not the same thing."

"For me, it might as well be."

"I see. You're not working now, though."

"I'm with you now."

She smiled. "Yeah. You are."

"I took the day off," he admitted.

Cinder stuck her tongue out at him. "Lucky."

"Just eat your crepe," he said.

* * *

><p>Something about the combination of crepes, Nutella, and strawberries made Cinder open up and relax. They stopped talking about money, responsibilities, and problems. Kai found out that she was actually trying to use spare parts to bring an old car she'd found at a junkyard back to life. Cinder thought it would give her more street cred, since her customers often asked her what kind of car she drove. Kai was fairly certain that this type of project might be a good one in which to enlist Thorne. He didn't tell Cinder though, for fear that she might think it was a charity project or something. He'd mention it to Thorne and see if he could find some clever, smooth way to participate. Thorne had a way with people that Kai didn't have, and surely if he suggested it, it wouldn't come off as offensive. Kai did offer to come hang out some time, if she ever needed company. Cinder told him that he would just be a distraction. He hoped that was a good thing.<p>

When the bill came—and Cinder paid—they made their way back to Kai's car.

"Am I allowed to drive you back to your house now, or do you still not want me to know where you live?" He meant for it to come out kind of like a joke, but he wasn't sure if she'd take offense at his words.

"That's not why I wouldn't let you take me to my subway line," she said.

"No?"

"No. I was trying to get rid of you."

"Oh. Well that makes me feel _much _better."

She jabbed him with her elbow. "I think I'm over it."

Kai grabbed her arm gently to keep her from walking any more. "Cinder..."

She met his gaze for an instant, then fixed it on Kai's hand that was holding her. He let her go and moved an inch closer.

Cinder took a step back. "Kai, don't do this."

"Do what? Look at you?"

"You know what," she said, though this time she let her eyes meet his.

He tried his best to smile. "I don't want to push you. I respect the fact that maybe you want to take it slow." He hesitated, reminding himself not to bring up the Masquerade just yet. Why did they have to avoid this topic? "Despite some of our differences, there's something here, Cinder. I feel it and I know you feel it too."

She shook her head fervently. "No, it's just—we're friends, and—"

"Okay, we're friends," said Kai. "But my intentions aren't to be your friend. I think you know that."

She nodded.

"All I want is for you to give me a chance. I know I often say the wrong things, and I know that I may have come on too strong at…well, in the past. But I just want us to spend more time together. Get to know each other. Can we do that?"

A long pause. "Maybe," she said quietly.

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped he wasn't pushing his luck. "Can I take you out on a proper date?"

"How would that be different from what we did today?"

"It wouldn't be, except that I wouldn't have to pretend like I don't like you. Because I do."

Her cheeks grew flushed against the cold winter air. "I know."

"So what do you say?" He looked at her with as much hope as he could muster. She stared back at him and considered.

"Maybe you should come to my house first."

Kai's heart almost jumped out of his chest. "Tonight?"

She laughed. "No, Kai, not like that."

Kai was sure his ears were pink. "Of course not."

"I think you should come over some time and see how I live and what my life is like. See if you still feel the same. There are some things you have to know about me first."

"Cinder, it doesn't matter to me where you live."

"Now it doesn't," she said.

"So does that mean you're saying yes?"

"I'm only saying yes to the getting to know each other part, not the date part."

Kai's grin must have stretched up to his eyes. "I'll take it."

"Can we keep walking now? I'm freezing."

"Oh, right. Of course."

"I'm taking the subway home tonight, though" she insisted.

"You're so demanding, Cinder."

"Nah, I just know what I want," she said, and then she winked at him.


	13. Chapter 13

Kai waited patiently for Cinder to contact him to hang out again. In the meantime, he busied himself with the mountains of work that had piled up while he was in Beijing. It was a bit mundane, but Kai felt a new skip in his step since his night with Cinder at the crepe café. Basically everyone on his floor had a proposal or project that needed his attention or signature, among other issues that he had to attend to.

His father's press secretary called to ask him to give a comment for a particularly relentless reporter. The press secretary was all apologies and regret for not being able to get rid of her, but insisted that not offering a comment might actually make things worse. Apparently, this reporter had seen him dance with Cinder at the Masquerade, and wanted to know the identity of his "mystery fling." This news put him on immediate alert. Now was not the time to make Cinder run away screaming from fear of the paparazzi. Kai wanted to ignore his press secretary's advice, but being secretive now might cause them to keep digging. He decided to have his press secretary tell the reporter that he'd just had a good time with some friends, and he wasn't sure to which specific person they were referring, because he'd danced with a lot of women that night. His response was all lies, but regrettably, situations like this often called just for that.

Someone had also tried to hack into their servers while the senior staff was away, but Huy Deshal told an entire office of executives that Kai had made a wise choice in hiring Crescent Darnel. Not only had she blocked the hack, but she had also managed to implant a counter-virus which had led to the eventual location of the would-be hackers, and their consequent arrest. Apparently, it had gone so smoothly that Huy hadn't even felt the need to alert anyone about it until their return.

The mention of Crescent Darnel brought Kai's mind back to the last time he had seen Thorne. Had he actually decided to see Cress since the elevator incident, or had he just been messing with Kai? He'd seen how uptight Kai had been about it—maybe Thorne was just trying to give Kai a hard time. He texted Thorne to see if he wanted to get together that night, but Thorne simply replied:

_Can't. Going to see about a new girl tonight. _

There were a few suggestive emoticons attached to the text as well. Kai was pleased to see that Thorne had clearly moved on from Cress, and didn't give it another thought. He animatedly texted that he'd hung out with Cinder at the Creperie. Thorne sent him some more emoticons that made him very nearly blush before putting his phone away.

When Cinder finally called him a few days later, he was surprised that she didn't invite him to her house. Kai thought that this would be a given based on their conversation walking to his car. Hadn't she insisted that he see "how she lived" first? He decided it was better not to press the issue, and gladly accepted an invitation to go to lunch during Cinder's break. They went to lunch together a few times after that as well, which mostly involved them driving around while Kai talked. Cinder listened intently, and it seemed like she cared about what he had to say. Despite her jokes, something about her was reserved, but he didn't get the impression that she was shy. She was holding back, and he was determined to find out what. Until she was ready to share, though, he simply enjoyed her presence. He felt lighter after hanging out with her. Less intense. And certainly less like he was forty.

When he finally did see Thorne, all he could do was gush about the time he spent with Cinder. He dissected the details like a giddy little school girl. At least, that's what Thorne told him. But Kai didn't care. He was so…_happy_. And he knew Thorne was happy for him too. The smile he gave Kai was practically one of triumph.

When Kai was driving Cinder back to the garage one afternoon, she finally said, "Sunday I have off. You should come over then." He couldn't contain his grin, thrilled at the idea of getting not only the privilege of seeing her in her home environment, but also on the weekend. When Cinder saw him smiling, she reached out and gave his thigh a quick squeeze before returning the smile. Kai nearly drove off the road.

* * *

><p>Kai bought her flowers. He worried it was too date-like, but after five lunch "non-dates," he was rather confident that she liked him too. It was simply time for flowers. Pretty ones. Pretty like her.<p>

When he arrived, Cinder buzzed him in. The neighborhood itself didn't seem so bad, though it definitely wasn't like the areas of the city where Kai, Thorne, or even Kesley and Scarlet lived. The building just seemed a little more worn down than the average apartment he'd seen. For some reason, he'd been expecting Cinder to live in a shady alley with prison-style bars around the windows. Maybe it was because of how much she'd try to "warn" him about her "living conditions." Whatever that meant. The apartment complex seemed fine.

Several flights of stairs later, Kai was sure that the only obvious disadvantage was the lack of an elevator. Then he felt like a spoiled brat, and cleared his mind. Cinder liked walking anyway, didn't she? Maybe all these stairs were just a warm-up for her.

Kai pulled the flowers out from behind his back after she opened the door.

"A peony bouquet!" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "How did you know these were my favorite?"

Kai beamed. "I didn't. I just thought they were pretty. They reminded me of you."

"Thorne give you that line?" she asked, but her eyes were still dancing with delight.

He pretended to be shocked, but then said semi-seriously, "Actually, I haven't seen too much of Thorne lately. First I was in Beijing for work, and now he's busy because he's hanging out with a new girl."

"A few weeks ago, I was the new girl," Cinder mused.

Kai cringed awkwardly. "Ehm—we already talked about this, I think. In his kitchen, right? He just goes out of with a lot of women. _Never _at the same time, though," he stressed.

"A lot of women at his place then."

"Sometimes," Kai admitted.

"Should I be worried then?"

"About what?"

"How often do you steal his girls?"

Kai reddened slightly. "Oh, never. We don't have the same taste in girls."

"And yet here I am," she said.

"Well—I—uh, hey! Does this mean that I did in fact manage to steal you?"

"From Thorne? Definitely."

Her light tone made Kai relax, but then he realized he was still standing a bit awkwardly in the doorway. "So, now that we have that issue aside, are you going to invite me in?"

"Oh," she said shyly, opening the door wider. "Right."

Kai brushed her shoulder lightly with his hand as he stepped past her to get inside. Coat still on, he surveyed the room. It was actually a small studio-style apartment. It was very tidy. His eyes breezed over the kitchen area, several bookshelves, the door to the bathroom, and finally landed on the living area, which appeared to double as a bedroom. There were a lot of pictures in that area, all with smiling faces, yet none of landscapes, he noted. Kai slipped off his coat and walked toward the kitchen table, where he draped it over one of the chairs. Cinder followed him silently.

"So is this the part where you tell me about the ghost who lives here?"

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"You set me up to believe like something was seriously wrong with your apartment. And yet it seems like a perfectly functional place where someone lives. It's even clean."

"I'm not really a messy person," she said.

"Where are all your tools? I thought you'd have some sort of workbench or something."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you bring all your work home with you?"

"Actually, yes," Kai admitted. "It's kind of a problem."

"Well, some of us don't want to mix personal and professional. Though with a step-dad who was in the racing business, that wasn't always possible."

"Who are all the people in the pictures?" Kai asked as he walked toward the living room area. He felt more comfortable calling it that in his head than admitting again that it was the bedroom area.

Cinder joined him and pointed at a few. "That's my cousin, Winter. She's the one I was telling you about. And that's her husband Jacin."

"Husband?" Kai asked. "They look rather young."

"They got married when they were like, 21, I think. They've been best friends since as long as I can remember. Once they finally admitted to each other that they were in love, it didn't take too long for him to pop the question."

"But they don't live here."

"No, but they come maybe once every two months?" She scrunched her face, calculating. "Maybe you'll meet them sometime."

"I'd like that," he said. "Now who are all these kids?"

"Oh, just kids I've met or worked with. I volunteer at the hospital sometimes."

"Which one?"

"Farafrah. The one on 8th and 36?"

"Yeah, I know that one. Rikan Corp sometimes donates there."

"I know," she said, "I've seen your wing there in the past. It's wonderful that you're involved with something like that."

Kai thought that it was much more wonderful that Cinder volunteered with children at a hospital, rather than just give money. But, admittedly, they both had their place.

"You have a lot of books too."

"You're just a regular Sherlock Holmes today, aren't you?"

Kai smirked as he walked to the nearest bookcase. "Just enjoying getting to know a little more about you." He perused the spines and eventually pulled a book off of the shelf. "_The Lunar Chronicles_, huh?"

Cinder suddenly became _very _excited. "It's my new favorite series! There's this girl and she meets this Prince—"

"—and let me guess, they live happily ever after?"

Cinder crossed her arms, but began to speak with even more enthusiasm. "No, not really, well—at least not yet—I'm _hoping_ they will, but that's beside the point. It's set in the future and it's like a cross between Cinderella and Star Wars and The Terminator. And the main character is a cyborg. With an _android_ best friend."

Kai raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but grin at how excited she was over this book. She was so cute right now. "I guess that's one I'll have to read."

"Would you seriously?" she said with just a little too much eagerness.

"Sure," said Kai. "If you like it that much, I bet it's good. I don't usually get the chance to do too much reading outside of work normally, but with such a high recommendation, how could I not?" He opened the book and began rifling through. "Cyborgs, huh?"

Cinder suddenly ripped the book out of his hands. "Kai, no! You cannot just open up a book and skim through it. What if you landed on a spoiler?"

Kai looked down at his thumb. A little bit of blood had appeared. "I think you just gave me a papercut. If that's the punishment for possibly reading a spoiler, I definitely won't take my chances again."

"Oh, spades! I'm sorry!" Cinder looked miserable.

"Don't worry about it."

"I shouldn't have gotten so excited about the book," she said.

"Do you have a bandaid?" he asked.

"Yes, I have a box of them. They should be under the sink. Second drawer maybe?"

"Okay, hang on to your enthusiasm just a little longer. I want to hear about this cyborg when I get back."

Kai stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He saw in the mirror that he was grinning just a bit too much. He couldn't help it, though. The adorable girl on the other side of the door was a mechanic who loved reading and volunteering with children at hospitals. How could he not grin?

He opened the various drawers of the sink until he found the bandaid box. Should he pretend that he was more hurt than he was just to get a little extra tender loving care? He rolled his eyes at himself. He had a papercut, not a bullet wound. Things were going so well. Now was not the time to be ridiculous.

There was a cabinet behind him, and even though he felt a bit like he was sneaking around, he decided to open it to see what was kept inside. Nothing special, he noted. Some make up, some medicine, plenty of hair scrunchies, and...his eyes halted on something in the corner.

A white mask, facedown. Kai picked it up and turned it in his hands. It had little shiny gemstones. His stomach knotted.

He had been right. Cinderella _was_ Cinder. The girl outside the door who he had been admiring just moments ago was also the same girl he'd kissed. And no matter what the consequences, he didn't want to sweep that under the rug anymore.

When he left the bathroom, Cinder was sitting on the edge of her bed, book still in hand. She looked up in anticipation, but her face fell the second she saw the mask.

"I knew it was you," said Kai.

Cinder's eyes remained fixed on the floor.

"I kissed you back that night because I wanted it to be you. Because I already liked you before that night even started. But then you ran away when I tried to talk to you about it. Why? Why didn't you want to admit that I was right?"

Cinder studied him, then a look of determination and nonchalance clouded her expression. She stood up and tossed the book onto the top of the bookshelf before approaching him.

"I just wanted to have a night without worrying about anything. What I looked like, you know?"

"I like the way you look," said Kai. He wondered if maybe she was just a little self-conscious.

"Sure, you do now, but you haven't seen the real me," she said. "You like some girl who dressed up and wore a mask. Someone who would never look or act like that in real life." She held up her hand in protest when Kai tried to speak. "And that was fine with me. I wanted to go to the Masquerade to have fun. Just…do whatever I wanted."

"Which included kissing me?"

"We had champagne and you asked me to dance, and…you looked rather handsome that night."

"But I just told you that I liked you _before _the Masquerade. I was waiting for you to show up the whole night."

"It doesn't matter, Kai. It was just a kiss."

Kai reeled. "Just a kiss? Seriously? We made out for like, fifteen minutes, during which time _both of us_ knew who the other person was. If you just wanted a kiss you could have danced with someone else."

Cinder huffed and waved her hands exasperatedly in the air. "Whatever, Kai."

"Can you please just be open with me?" Kai asked, trying to steady his voice. "Please, just do me this courtesy."

"Fine," she said indignantly. "Yes, Kai, I want you, okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

"If it's the truth," he said, not daring to hope.

She shook her head. "I knew from the first time we talked in the kitchen at Thorne's that I wanted you."

Kai's knees could have collapsed from both elation and frustration. He wasn't sure which emotion he felt more strongly in that moment. "Then what is holding you back? Why am I here now if you don't want to keep moving forward? If you want me, and I want you, why can't we just go back to that night and give it a proper ending, rather than you just running away from me?"

"It wouldn't work out between us," she said flatly.

"Because of your apartment? Isn't that what you said at the café? That I have to see how you live?" He folded his arms. "Well I've seen it, and I like it, Cinder. It's small, and quiet, and it doesn't matter to me that you don't have a penthouse. Do you have any idea how much I hate _my _penthouse? I spend pretty much all my free time at Thorne's just so I don't have to be there."

"I understand that you're frustrated. I'm frustrated too. But there are things that will always keep us apart. Like your wealth, for example."

Kai ran both his hands through his hair. "What do you want me to do? Give up everything? I can't help the situation I was born into."

"No, I could never ask you to do that. That's not what I meant, anyway."

"Are you sure it's my money you have a problem with, and not me?"

"I don't have a problem with the money itself. I just have a problem with you spending money on_ me_. You've already done enough for me."

"Cinder, you haven't let me do one single thing for you. You wouldn't even let me pay for that cab ride to work when you got snowed in at Thorne's!"

She flopped down on the bed in exasperation and covered her eyes. Kai stayed rooted to where he stood on the floor.

"You know, I just wanted to meet new people when I agreed to go to Thorne's house for dinner with his friends. I work too much and the only other people I really see besides Iko are the guys at the garage. So I'm all ready to have a normal night out with my best friend, and possibly make new friends. And who knows, maybe even get to know this admittedly good-looking, flirty, though frankly not-my-type guy who just _happened _to show interest in me. In _me_. And honestly, most clients that come to the garage are really old, because who else can afford the types of cars we work on?" She wrinkled her nose. "I had to take that opportunity. But then I show up at Thorne's house, and what do you know, I find myself instantly attracted to another guy at the party, so I begin to feel guilty within thirty seconds of showing up. And then, to make it worse, of all people, it's the heir to Rikan Corp."

She was on her back, hands still over her eyes. When Kai didn't say anything, she peeped through her fingers. "Stop me from word vomiting any time, Kai."

"Oh no, please do continue. I'm rather enjoying hearing about how you were attracted to me instead of Thorne. Except I'd like to know how me being the heir to Rikan Corp makes it worse."

Cinder groaned. "As soon as I found out, I knew it could never work. I accepted it. But then guess what? Besides being good-looking, you just _had_ to go and be all nice and sweet and decent too, didn't you? We had to have good conversation. Oh and then you had to keep asking me for my number and trying to invite me to do things with you."

"That's kind of standard for a guy when he likes a woman," Kai pointed out.

"So I went to the Masquerade. Again, to have a good time. But there you were, once again. And yeah, I liked you by then, as I said. So when you asked me to dance, I gave in to my weaker side. I pretended I was someone else. And then I couldn't resist kissing you." Her face was red now, though she was no longer covering her eyes.

Kai crawled onto the bed and propped himself up on his elbows, chin resting on his hands, to study Cinder. "I obviously couldn't resist either," he said. "I can barely resist right now."

Cinder, still on her back, stared up at him. Kai stared intently back, not wanting to break eye contact first. This entire conversation was one gigantic "but" of why they couldn't be together. He wished she would just spit it out. "Please," he said, "a million things are going through my head right now, but not one of them explains why we shouldn't be together."

He reached out to her and placed his hand softly in hers. "Please. Tell me."

She took a deep breath. Let go of his hand. Sat up.

Then she rolled up the bottom part of her pant leg from her ankle to her knee. Then the other leg. Kai sat up too, unable to believe his eyes. Burn marks, scars, and discolored skin covered both her legs. In fact, Kai wasn't able to see anything that looked like regular skin at all. His stomach turned over, leaving him with an empty feeling. What could she have possibly been through to get those scars?

"There's more," she said, before he had a chance to fully process what he'd just seen. "It goes up almost all the way." She got off the bed and stood up. She lifted her shirt just slightly to reveal more scars up to her navel.

"Cinder…" Kai began to say.

"I was pretty young. It was an accident." She sighed. "But it was my fault. I knocked over a candle while my sister was upstairs. I don't remember why I was playing with the candle, or what I was doing, but just that everything was burning so quickly. And I screamed, and my sister came running for me, but it was already so hot, and I was just screaming so much." She paused. "I woke up in the hospital, covered in bandages with excruciating pain all over by body. My sister died."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Kai reached for Cinder, but she took a step away from the bed and shook her head.

"It was a long time ago, like I said. I still miss her sometimes, though."

"Cinder," Kai tried. "I don't care if you have scars. I don't care if they cover your whole body. You're beau—"

"_No_," she said. "My scars are not beautiful, so don't call them that. They're a constant reminder of things that I can't take back, and things that I ruined for other people too."

Something tugged in the corner of Kai's mind, making him feel even sadder. "Your mom—Cinder, this isn't—I mean, she doesn't blame you for the accident does she?"

Cinder nodded. "Yeah, she did. She still does. I've come to terms with that though, and accepted that it was an accident—even if she can't—but that's not why we don't speak anymore. Well, besides the money exchange," she added bitterly. "I was burned so badly, Kai. Everywhere. The doctors did what they could, but I was looking at a life of disfigurement. My mom could only cover part of the surgery with the money we had. The insurance considered the procedure plastic surgery, so of course they classified it under 'cosmetic' and not 'necessary.' The hospital recommended looking for donors to off-set the difference of what my mom couldn't afford. And you know who made that generous donation? Rikan Corp."

Kai crinkled his forehead in strained comprehension. He must have been pretty young when this happened if he didn't remember the incident. It would have been in the papers.

"My mom says I drained all of her extra money on the surgery, so I have to pay back what I owe her. I think it's more of a vendetta for killing her daughter—my sister—but I can't argue with her. If she hadn't fronted that money, I would have a deformed face, hands, and arms on top of everything else." She gestured at her still rolled-up pants. "At least this way I can go out in public without everyone immediately knowing what happened to me. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful to be alive."

"Is that why you don't like dressing up?" Kai asked, too stunned to think of anything else he could possibly say at a moment like this.

"It's not that I don't like dressing up, it's more the actual dresses. They reveal too much," she said simply. "I liked the idea of the Masquerade because I knew I could cover up the parts of me that I didn't want exposed."

Kai watched Cinder until she stopped fiddling with her hands nervously, and then patted the mattress next to him. "Would you please come over here? I've been wanting to give you a hug for I don't know, the entire time you've been talking? If anything, do it for me, because I know you'll never let me do it just for you."

Cinder reluctantly sat down next to him. He nearly crushed her in his arms. She didn't put up a fight though. She just resigned herself to his embrace. Finally, when he felt like enough silence had passed between them, he pulled her head gently off his shoulder so he could look at her. Kai ran his fingers through her hair over and over, and then held her face in his hands.

"Look at me, Cinder. I'm so thankful that you trusted me enough to share this information with me. And I'm so sorry for everything that you've been through. And I'm so _proud _of how well you seem to be handling all of that, because it seems like a heavy burden to bear. Especially alone."

She nodded.

"But I still don't understand why any of this information should keep us apart."

The warm eyes he loved so much filled with sadness. "Our relationship would always be unbalanced. I owe you, Kai. And no matter what I do, no matter how much I want to be with you, there will always be this one thing that I can never pay you back for."

"I don't want you to pay me back, Cinder. I'm not your mom."

"Maybe not, but you get the idea don't you? You've saved my life in so many ways that you don't even know."

Kai shook his head. "I didn't have anything to do with that. It wasn't me personally that did anything. It was a fund, Cinder—just a fund. I'm _glad_ it went to you! I can't imagine my father's money being used for a better cause. It's finally gone to something good. Something pure."

A tear rolled down her cheek. He took it away with his thumb, then placed a kiss on the spot where it had fallen. "You're going to have to come up with a better excuse. Because I'm not going anywhere."

Kai's mouth found hers. A sense of familiarity flooded him as he brushed his lips over every inch of her mouth, and then moved across from one side of her jaw to the other. Cinder ran her hands lightly through his hair. He pulled her gently into a side laying position on the bed and they stayed like that for a long time, eyes searching each other intently. Then one of her legs slid between his, and the other over it, like a stack, pulling their bodies impossibly closer. Kai rested his hand on her hip.

"I want more of this," he said quietly. "I don't want any more pretend dates."

"Can you just stay here?" she asked. "With me?"

"Of course," he said without hesitation.

"Would you stay even if we just lie next to each other and talk?"

"Miss Linh," he said jokingly, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were implying that I could possibly have some other intention for staying here."

She laughed. "For now, I'm just really glad we talked. I want to talk more. And I don't want you to go."

Kai laid his head down flat and pulled her onto him so that she could rest her head comfortably on his chest. "I don't care what we do. I'm staying. As long as you like."


	14. Chapter 14

Kai woke up the next morning with Cinder's arm almost suffocating him.

It was pressed over his neck, but not in a romantic way, more in a deadweight kind of way. He slid his hand gingerly under her arm to give his throat more room to breathe, then glanced in her direction and nearly burst out laughing. Cinder was spread out on her stomach with her arms and legs extended like a starfish, her face smushed into the pillow. The idea that someone could find that type of position even remotely comfortable boggled his mind.

This could be a problem for them. Kai was definitely a back sleeper. Maybe the next time he slept over, he'd have to make a little pillow barrier to keep himself in a safe zone from her dangerous tentacles. His heart warmed this little idiosyncrasy that maybe one day they could call "theirs" and have little inside jokes about. That being said, he still clearly needed more space in the bed. He might have to have a chat with her about this.

He rolled the thought around in his mind. It was hard to believe that he'd actually spent the night. Granted, it had transpired because of Cinder's need for comfort and conversation, but it had been fantastic nonetheless. He'd enjoyed every minute of cuddling that she'd allowed him. The conversation had gone quite deep too—it turned out that once Cinder had felt comfortable enough to share her hesitations, a flood of other topics had come pouring out of her. Kai hoped that she wouldn't hold back anymore. He loved this raw, honest version of her that didn't put up so many walls.

He was careful not wake her as he slipped out of bed and over to the bathroom. His internal clock still wasn't letting him sleep past 6:00 A.M. He had hoped that with a little stress relief, he might be able to sleep in more, but now he supposed that it was just sheer habit. The rumpled shirt and pants that he'd fallen asleep in stared back at him in Cinder's mirror, and he took a moment to try to smooth them out. It was futile. When he finally finished freshening up and went to grab his keys off the kitchen table, he hoped that he'd back before Cinder had a chance to wake up.

* * *

><p>Finally, luck was on his side just this once. He slipped back in and placed the coffee and bagels on her table. Then he walked to her bed and sat down beside her. His adorable little starfish. Well, grown up starfish. He could see a nickname forming here. Kai ran his hands through her hair just once and gave her a quick kiss on the head. She didn't budge.<p>

Huh. Wasn't that usually supposed to do the trick in all the romantic films? Unfortunately, he wasn't too experienced with cute morning wake-up calls. He tried again. Cinder slightly grunted, but stayed asleep. Time for Plan B. Kai plopped himself onto the bed rather loudly next to her and bounced a little. Then he squeezed himself underneath her arms until he was right next to her.

"Cinder…" he practically sang, hoping to be annoying. "Wake u-up."

Cinder opened one of her eyes and nearly jumped a mile in the air.

"Whoa!" he said, sitting up. "You okay there?"

She breathed heavily. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," he said, not sorry at all. "I did what I had to do. You wouldn't wake up."

"Oh," she said, looking first at the bed, then to him, then to the bed again. "Hi."

"You probably have to get to work soon, don't you?" he asked.

"Not for another hour," she said. "I did a lot of overtime this week so I have a late start today."

He grimaced. "Whoops."

"That's okay," she said. "It smells good. Did you cook?"

"Why cook when you can buy?" he said.

"Don't tell me you don't cook," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"A little, though not nearly as much as I probably should," he admitted. "As you pointed out yesterday, I'm kind of a spoiled brat."

She laughed. "Yeah, you are."

"I got you bagels and coffee, though. That's got to count for something."

"I suppose."

She grinned and leaned to give him a kiss before she stood up and stretched. Kai went over to the kitchen area and began rummaging through the cabinets.

"In the top right hand corner!" she yelled from the bathroom.

He found two plates there and soon located the knives for the cream cheese—which he'd also bought. Maybe it wasn't so romantic, but even if he could cook, he would still want bagels in the morning.

Cinder reappeared from the bathroom with a pair jeans and a sweater that really flattered her figure. He couldn't help smiling. When she met his gaze, though, her face fell slightly.

"I don't usually do things like this," she said. "So, um, I just wanted to let you know that this was a one-time thing."

Kai's heart sank. "What?"

"You know...sleeping over."

"Oh. Did I…do something wrong?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, not at all! I just don't want to build up your expectations. I mean, I really want to be your, well…"

"Girlfriend?" Kai supplied, loving the sound of it on his tongue.

"Yes, girlfriend. I'm glad we're on the same page with that. But I want to take it slow in the, um, physical department."

"Oh."

"I know that probably seems a little _traditional _in this day and age." She began to ramble. "But it's my personal decision and I hope you can respect that and I feel like maybe I made a mistake inviting to stay over and maybe I led you on because of that and you're a guy and I don't know what your expectations are and does that disappoint you?"

Kai tried to think of how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Like you said, I _am_ a guy, so…I've thought about it, yes, and I can't say I don't want to, but…obviously only if you want to."

"I don't want to. At least not yet." She was clearly nervous.

"It's like I said yesterday, Cinder. We don't have to do anything. I just want to be around you and be _with_ you. I'm glad you told me; it's better this way. Now I won't try something and you'll feel pressured."

She brightened, relieved. "Thanks."

He patted the chair next to him so she would sit down. "Come on, let's eat. Tell me more about why you feel this way."

* * *

><p>"So, Thorne wants to have another party this weekend," Kai said through a mouthful of Chinese take-out that he'd just shoved in his mouth. He was at Cinder's house for the third time this week, and he was rather enjoying their more consistent time together.<p>

"A dinner party like last time or like a big party?" Cinder asked, swallowing before answering.

"Nntsr." Kai swallowed too. "Excuse me. Not sure. Do you want to come?"

She smiled slyly. "The last time I went to one of Thorne's parties, I met you. Maybe this time, I'll meet someone even cuter."

Kai scoffed. "Please, how could you look at anything besides this handsome face?"

Cinder tried to poke him with her chopsticks, but dropped a dumpling when he ducked back. He stole it off the table with his hand and shoved it in his mouth. "Mmmm."

"Or maybe, someone with better table manners," she said.

"I am the standard of etiquette at my business functions," he said defiantly. "You just bring out the slob in me."

"You're so annoying."

"Annoying adorable?" he asked.

"_Maybe_."

"Well maybe don't meet another cute guy at Thorne's party."

She smiled before taking some more food. "Can I bring Iko again?"

"Sure." He paused before adding, "but it's one of those 'let's-meet-Thorne's-new-girl' parties. Will Iko mind?"

"She actually just met someone, and maybe she'd want to bring him."

"Oh okay, I'm sure that would be fine. Thorne is really laid back about that sort of thing."

"Why does Thorne do that?"

"Do what?"

"Have those parties whenever he meets a new girl."

Kai poked at his food. "He doesn't do it with _every _girl. But I think it's for a variety of reasons. First, Thorne is really social. He doesn't want to give any woman the impression that she's going to be the only person thing taking up all his time. Second, there's less pressure to have deep conversation. If they don't hit it off too much, or if he's unsure about her, it's easier to have other people around to make it less uncomfortable. Third, parties put Thorne at ease, for some reason. He feels like he's in his element when there are people around to impress or even just, I don't know, put him in the spotlight? The guy likes to show off a bit, in case you haven't noticed. Lastly, I'm pretty sure he thinks it puts the girl at ease because girls don't want a guy who isn't proud of them, so they think it's important to meet his friends."

"You're joking."

"No?"

"Meeting a guy's friends if you're already dating is sort of like a ritual. If the girl likes him, she'll think that he's taking the relationship to the next level."

"You came to his party. Did you think he was taking the relationship to the next level?"

She laughed. "No. Thorne just said he wanted me to come to a casual party with some of his friends. It's not like we were already in a relationship."

"Well, maybe that's what he does with the other girls too."

Cinder shook her head. "Sounds to me like it's just a defense mechanism for Thorne to easily jump ship. Like a disguised dumping strategy."

"I doubt he views it like that. He doesn't invite girls over that he doesn't like, or at least think are cute." Kai shrugged and took a drink. "Maybe he's just hopeful that he'll finally meet the right girl."

"Maybe he should stick around long enough to find out if a girl could even have the possibility of being the right girl. It's kind of hard to know that without spending a lot of time together."

"I've never really thought about it like that. It's just the way Thorne operates."

"You're probably a little blinded by the fact that he's your friend."

"Maybe a little," Kai admitted. "I guess he does give that awful friend speech a lot, though. That I have noticed."

Cinder shuddered. "If that's the case, then I really hope the one he used on me has been perfected for this next girl, because oh my stars, he sucks at it."

* * *

><p>Kai and Cinder arrived a little late to the dinner party. He'd underestimated just how much time it took him to get to Cinder's part of the city and back to Thorne's, now that she was letting him pick her up. He didn't mind though—the fact that she allowed it made his heart skip with an unspoken triumph. When the incredible smell of something baking wafted towards them from the kitchen, Kai couldn't have been happier. Forget Thorne's party. This was his chance to show off <em>his <em>girl for once. He put his arm around Cinder's waist and escorted her proudly to the others.

His glee was short-lived. When they entered the kitchen, Kai nearly fell over in shock when he recognized Thorne hunched over the stove with none other than Crescent Darnel.

Notes from her file flashed through his mind the instant he saw her.

_Vandalism. Theft. Blackmail. Destruction of Property. Restraining Order._

He watched, mesmerized but terrified, as Thorne ladled some of the sauce he was stirring onto a spoon, blew on it, and practically shoved it into her mouth. Her eyes bulged slightly, then she swallowed and bobbed her head enthusiastically. Apparently, whatever he was making tasted good. Thorne reacted by giving her one of his "I'm so charming and awesome" smiles and Kai mocked him silently.

Thorne had been _lying_ to him. "A new girl." Please. Thorne had hidden this intentionally. Kai's shock began to dwindle as anger replaced it.

"Kai!" His attention snapped up as Scarlet bounded over with Kesley. "Can you believe he's cooking? Thorne's really trying to impress this one, it seems."

Kai tried to recover. He had completely forgotten that he still had his arm around Cinder. "Ha…right. Um, Kesley, Scarlet, you remember Cinder, right?"

"How could we forget?" Scarlet said playfully, before giving Cinder a quick hug. "Welcome to the gang."

"Thanks, it's good to see you again." said Cinder. "Have you seen Iko?"

"She and Ran are already here. I think they're chatting in the living room."

"Okay, thanks." Then she turned to Thorne, who hadn't even acknowledged their presence. "Thorne, you're lighting up like the full moon over there!"

Thorne turned around at that and grinned as though they shared some sort of conspiracy. "Hey, that's my line, darling."

He set down his ladle and gestured for Cress. "Cress, you remember Kai." The sly look on Thorne's face told Kai that Thorne knew perfectly well just how much he'd been keeping Kai in the dark. Cress, however, moved closer to Thorne, and looked slightly intimidated.

Kai reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to see you again, Crescent."

"Just Cress, please."

"Sure."

There was an uncomfortable silence, which Thorne broke. "And, this is Kai's new girlfriend, Cinder."

Cinder shook Cress's hand too and the room slowly filled with noise. Kai left Cinder with Cress and Thorne, making the excuse that he was going to get Iko. Cinder seemed happy that he'd noticed she was still missing, so at least he'd done something right in her book. Really, he just needed a moment to put on a cool mask of indifference. Getting Iko and Ran proved to be the perfect diversion, though admittedly he didn't pay much attention to them beyond the standard formalities they exchanged as he led them back to the kitchen.

Iko squealed when she saw Cinder, and Ran went to sit at the table. Cinder finally joined Kai, who tried to be the example of a perfect gentleman.

"Oh Kai," said Cinder, "Cress is so cute."

_Oh, she's cute alright_, he thought grimly. _Gee, I wonder__ why Thorne decided to go for her._ "Yay," he said lamely to Cinder.

"Oh come on, she doesn't seem fake at all, and she's actually quite shy. It's like she balances out Thorne's showiness and outgoing personality."

Yippy, he thought, but the words that came out were, "You don't even know Thorne."

Cinder retreated a step, then listed her head. "Everything okay, Kai?"

He reached for her arm. "Sorry. That came out rude. Let's wait until dinner's over to see how it goes, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Throughout dinner, he studied their interactions intently, barely able to concentrate on Cinder or his food. He brooded. The more he watched Cress with Thorne, the more he was sure that she was just as smitten as all the other girls that Thorne tended to bring home. She had a little glow about her that made it painfully obvious: she definitely liked him. And Thorne, with his attitudes about dating? It couldn't end well. What would she do to him when he put her in the friend zone, as he inevitably did with everyone else?<p>

He was so absorbed in watching the two of them that halfway through the dinner he realized that he had apparently been missing out on other drama going on in the room. Cinder swiftly brought him back to reality with a '_can I please speak with you in private'_ nudge under the table.

"Sorry," he mumbled, as soon as they exited the room. He was too distracted to even come up with a clever retort to the snickers that followed them. "What's up?"

"He's disgusting and I want him out of here," said Cinder firmly.

"Who?"

"_Ran_, obviously."

"What's he doing?"

Cinder stared at him in disbelief. "Have you not been paying attention?"

"I was, uh, thinking about you," he lied.

"He's such a scumbag. He cuts Iko off every time she wants to talk, and to top it off, he makes derogatory remarks about women. Not to mention, I've watched him try to grope her several times _right at the table._ She's been making her miserable face all evening, but she's too embarrassed to do anything about it."

"Oh." He ruffled his hair. "That does sound bad."

She crossed her arms. "_Kesley _noticed. He's practically squirming in his chair to kick him out. I can see Scarlet fuming too. You, Thorne, and Cress seem to be in la-la land though, and considering that Thorne is the host, I'd appreciate it if you'd ask him to get rid of him."

"Are you sure Iko wants him to leave?"

"_Oh_," said Cinder, "she'll want him gone if she knows what's best for her, which, judging by her choice of companion, apparently she does not. They've actually met before too, can you believe it? This is an intervention, Kai."

Kai was surprised that Thorne hadn't noticed this was going on. He was usually quite attuned to these sorts of things. Kai gave Cinder a quick nod before he squared his shoulders and marched back into the room. Thorne and Cress were laughing at something together while Kesley and Scarlet glowered at Ran. Thorne looked up expectantly at Kai and shot him a wink as he approached the table. Meanwhile, Ran sat with a smug expression as he possessively held his arm around Iko's shoulder. The second Kai saw the expression of unease on Iko's face, he knew Cinder was right.

"Thorne, Kesley, Ran, would you join me for a moment?"

Kesley nearly knocked over his chair as he jumped up. Thorne glanced at Cress but stayed put. "Everything okay?"

Kai plastered a fake smile on his face that he normally reserved for irritating clients. "Of course. Just some guy stuff."

"Guy stuff, eh?" asked Ran, releasing Iko. "Sign me up."

He leaned over and gave Iko a long kiss on her neck and lingered there. Kai saw Thorne's forehead crease as understanding flickered over his eyes when everyone—except Ran—saw Iko's reaction. Scarlet stepped on Kesley's toe and he scowled. Kai had no idea where Cinder was. Behind him?

Kai cleared his throat loudly. "Ran? Any time?"

Ran leered at Iko one more time and finally got up as well. Kai led them out to Thorne's living room. Only Kesley seemed to be hyper aware of why he was out there, and Kai thought he might give Ran a beating. He bounced on the balls of his feet as if releasing nervous energy through the ground would help him calm down. Thorne was eyeing Ran warily, but still looked slightly confused.

"Ran," said Kai, "we're going to have to ask you to leave."

"Excuse me?" said Ran, looking bewildered.

"You heard him," said Kesley. "We don't want you here."

The three of them turned to Thorne. "Right," he said, straightening.

Ran glared at him. "I'm not leaving. Iko invited me."

Thorne smiled coolly. "I've just un-invited you." He pointed at the hallway that lead to the door. "Have a great night."

Ran crossed his arms. "I said, I'm not leaving."

Kesley, Kai, and Thorne simultaneously rounded on him. Kesley, who dwarfed Ran, cracked his knuckles. "Iko deserves respect. _Women_ deserve respect. I'm happy to escort you to your car if you're not capable of leaving on your own."

Ran flinched away from him, like an omega bowing to an alpha. "I'll just go say goodbye to Iko then," he said sourly.

"That won't be necessary," said Kesley. Kai and Thorne exchanged a glance, but it was more Kai glaring at Thorne. He felt partially guilty for having not having picked up on what a douchebag Ran was, but he blamed Thorne because he was obviously too absorbed in his new _flavor of the month_ to notice either. Ran strode into the hallway and Kesley followed him for good measure. After a tense silence, Thorne turned to walk back into the kitchen. Kai grabbed his arm, halting him.

"Sorry man, I wasn't paying attention," said Thorne, pulling his arm away. "It won't happen again."

"Why is she here?" Kai hissed.

"Iko? I'm pretty sure that Cinder invited her. Hey, you don't have to look so pissed, man. Kesley's taking care of it."

"Not Iko. _Cress_. Why is Cress here?"

Thorne hesitated, then his confidence returned to his face. "Why shouldn't she be?"

"Thorne, it's not appropriate for her to be here. She's my employee."

Thorne laughed arrogantly. "Kai, there's nothing inappropriate about it. Unless, of course, you're planning on hooking up with her later—in which case you'd have a problem not just with company policy but also with me."

"So you're hooking up with her?" Kai couldn't keep the disbelief off his face.

Thorne shrugged. "What's it to you? No, wait,"—he held up his hands and made a face—"it's none of your business."

Kai scowled. "You're my best friend."

"What's your obsession with Cress, anyway? She's a good girl. Hott too." Thorne licked his lips and wiggled an eyebrow.

Kai's left eye was developing a twitch. "Thorne," he said exasperatedly, "I warned you about her."

"Well, thank you for your _unending concern_, but as I've already told you, there's nothing to worry about."

"So she told you about her past?"

Thorne crossed his arms. "It's nothing I have to worry about because there's nothing going on between me and Cress."

"It certainly doesn't look that way."

"C'mon Kai, you've been around enough of my lady friends to know when nothing serious is going on."

"Nothing serious is not the same thing as nothing going on."

"Look, you've got a new girlfriend and that's all fine and dandy for you, but don't push your crap on me."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that some of us might have different values than you, and maybe we don't want to be tied down."

Kai huffed. "Stop deflecting my question by using 'we.' _Are you with her or not_?"

At that, Thorne just grinned his stupid, cocky grin that sometimes made Kai want to punch him. "Oh Kai, you're such a grandpa. Why don't you just worry about yours and I'll worry about mine?"

"Because she might be dangerous?"

"Dangerous, Cress? Just stop. We can't all have squeaky clean backgrounds like you."

"I'm serious Thorne," he insisted. "Stop messing around."

Thorne's grin finally faded and his tone turned grim, which succeeded in giving Kai chills. Thorne wasn't serious often. "If you have a problem with my choice of companion, you can leave too." Thorne pointed to where Ran had walked out only minutes ago.

Kai pushed his face right up to Thorne's. He was slightly shorter—a fact that Thorne never let him forget—but he could still glare at him from almost eye-level. "I'm trying to look out for you. And I'm telling you that this is one person you shouldn't mess around with. Particularly not with her feelings."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What if she doesn't share your 'lifestyle choice'? What if she thinks you're dating?"

"First of all, she doesn't think that. Second of all, if she does, it's not like she's going to kill me in my sleep or something."

"Are you sure about that?" Kai asked. "You know, since she's clearly told you so much about her past."

Thorne pushed Kai back. "You're out of line, Kai. I'm sure of it because I know you, and if you thought you had a murderer working for you, you wouldn't have hired her. You're just trying to mess with my head."

Why _had_ he hired her? Huy Deshal had been hesitant, but after reviewing her files and giving her a brief interview, Kai had decided that if the law had given her a green light to work, then her background shouldn't determine her future. It was undeniable that she was a hacking genius. Rikan Corp needed her. If she did anything illegal, he had some of the best lawyers in the nation under his belt to deal with it. But now, when he saw her with Thorne, doubt about his decision filled every corner of his mind. She was here now, in his personal life, infiltrating his group of friends. And Thorne—he couldn't see what might possibly happen if he dared to cross Crescent Darnel.

"This is for your own good."

"Who died and made you king? Get out of my face."

"_No_. Stay away from her."

"You're not the only one who's allowed to get some around here." Kai shook his head in disbelief, but Thorne's expression suddenly turned smug. "Ohh. Oh I see." He snickered. "Poor Kai. That's the problem isn't it? You're just jealous because your girl doesn't put out."

Kai punched him square in the face.

He thought he would get hit right back, so he raised his arms in defense, but Thorne just blinked in surprise, and ran his finger over his lip. A few drops of blood were forming at the bottom corner. He cursed. "Stars alive, I've never seen you punch anyone in your life, and now you choose me. So much for loyalty."

"Don't you _dare _disrespect Cinder," Kai seethed.

"I didn't realize you were so sensitive."

"You were asking for it. Since when do you say stuff like that?"

"Yeah," said Thorne slowly, after checking his lip for more blood. "That was out of line. I didn't mean it. Sorry."

Kai was caught off guard by his apology. Before he had a chance to reply, though, Kesley came into the room. "Everything okay in here?"

"Yeah," said Kai. "We're fine."

"We'll just be a moment longer," said Thorne.

"Why are you so defensive about Cress?" Kai asked once Kesley had left the room again.

Thorne sighed. "I don't know man, I don't know."

"You like her, don't you?"

"Of course I like her."

"You know what I mean. More than usual."

"Don't make me punch you back," Thorne said warily.

"Answer the question."

Thorne threw his hands up in the air. "I'm just sick of you trying to tell me what to do. I helped you out with Cinder, didn't I? She called you _because of me_. Heck, you _met her_ because of me. Now just because I'm bringing a girl around you gotta get all weird on me and act like I'm doing something wrong by having fun. Just stay out of it."

"Why don't you ask her what she's done?"

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"You know I can't. I could get sued. I've already said too much."

"Then stop whining about it. I cleaned up my act, you know that. I'm not into bad stuff anymore. And I don't take advantage of women or degrade them like that guy Ran. So let me have my fun even if I don't want to have some big ball-and-chain relationship like you do. That's not what I'm looking for."

Kai shook his head. "Yeah, but does she know that?"

Thorne glanced behind him, then shrugged. "Of course."

"It really doesn't seem that way."

"I'm not starting this conversation again. If I want to hang out with her, I will."

And with that, he stalked off to the bathroom. Kai guessed he was probably going to double-check his lip to make sure he was presentable before joining the others. Kai waited a few minutes to collect himself before he headed back as well.

This was not good. Not good at all.


End file.
